Part of The Secret
by mysticvysgiyi
Summary: They were best friends, and the best of lovers. What was their real destiny? No one knows, right? Completely AU and CC couples all the way!
1. Dreaming of You

Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies. The characters are not mine; they belong to the creators of the Roswell series. I am simply telling a story I had dreamed that involved the show. Spoilers/Summary: This is completely AU, and CC all the way. I never liked Tess, and I really debated on putting her in here, but than Kyle wouldn't have someone and.well you'll see. So happy reading! AN: Please send feedback! I've never written anything about Roswell before, so if you could just drop me a line or two, that would be awesome!! Rating: Right now, I'm going to say PG-13, but I KNOW that's it's going to change in the future. If you want to keep it at a lower level just email me, and ask for a 'cleaner' version  
  
They had matching eyes. There was blue, hazel, brown, and green. They hadn't really noticed anything later, until some one had finally mentioned it to them, but that was much later in the story, where all the problems started, or perhaps where all the answers were answered. It's just like that old saying: 'is the glass half empty or half full?'  
  
When they were children they had been inseparable. They had all met when they were in 4th grade and were made to sit next to each other. That's where our story begins.  
  
~  
  
Her hair was blonde, and definitely curly. She looked like one of those porcelain dolls that were at the store that he could never afford. She was pale and her green eyes were hidden behind closed lids. She was beautiful. Why was she so sick? Why couldn't she be better, and I could just pull one of her curls, and she would start to argue with me, just like usual. Why did she have to get so sick?? Her skin was cold to the touch, and he knew the difference between her usual vibrancy, and this sickly pallor.  
  
He had been wondering the streets of Roswell on a nice summer day, just trying to get a feel for the weather, or at least that's what he told people if they asked. Not that anyone did. He had just been transferred here in September. It had been his first day of third grade. It had been the day when one of the locals had made fun of him on the playground, and called him stupid that he had gotten into his first fight. He had had bruises from that fight, and because, every now and then he came to school with others, many assumed that he was a trouble maker, and had just gotten into other fights.with children. They had never guessed that he had fought, but with his foster father, Hank.  
  
Hank was a greasy haired drunk that lived in a run down house on the edge of town. It was just in walking distance of the Elementary, and Michael liked it that way. He didn't have to ride the bus to school, and talk to those other kids. But Hank drank a lot in front of the TV when he got home from the Cheese Factory. He was strong, and whenever Michael said anything when Hank was in his drunken stupor he would be punished for it. Michael was always covered in bruises, but made sure to hide it. He never wanted anyone to notice, and he thought no one had, but that changed when he was walking down the street that summer, and found a pixie girl silently walking next to him.  
  
"What do you want?" Michael asked.  
  
"Oh, hi! Sorry didn't notice you were there. I was just trying to get a feel for the weather," replied a young blond haired girl who looked to be about six.  
  
Did she just say that she was just trying to get a feel for the weather? That was definitely a cover. Why would anyone ever use that excuse, oh yeah I used that..a coincidence? The young girl started to laugh out loud. He hadn't said anything, and neither had she. Why was she laughing?? Michael was about to say something, when suddenly she spoke first. "So, what's your name?" the young girl asked.  
  
"Michael." Was his short, and to the point reply.  
  
"I'm Maria." After a moments hesitation she followed with: "I'm proud of you." Maria smiled and walked off in another direction. But not before she had touched his cheek where a faint bruise from the two days before, remained. That had been the last he had seen her that summer, and he was completely wierded out by her. What did she mean she was proud of him? Why had she touched him like that? Why had she laughed for no reason?  
  
The summer passed, and September arrived.  
  
~  
  
Hank had been laid off the day before, and had been drinking all night. Michael hadn't wanted to stick around where he would most likely get the blunt end of the night's activities. So, he had arrived at school earlier than any of the early morning walkers. He walked into his new classroom, and met his new teacher, who from the very start seemed to have it out for him. Perhaps it was his messy and spiked hair. Perhaps it was the bruises on his arm from the week before. Maybe it was even the fact that he hadn't a backpack, or any school supplies he would need for the year. It could've even been the fact that he needed new shoes or the fact that his clothes were on the shabby (but clean) side. No one understood him, and even fewer had ever wanted to know him.  
  
She had simply given him a look and pointed him to a desk in the back of the classroom. Silently he sat down and waited for the rest of the class to come in. The door opened, and he was assaulted with the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It was that girl that he had met during summer. It was that same girl, but why didn't he remember how beautiful she was? He stared at her for a few moments, until he pretended that the desk was suddenly more interesting. A few moments later she sat down next to him, to his complete and utter surprise.  
  
He could feel her stare, and unable to take it any longer he looked up into her eyes, and instead found green orbs in their place. They were absolutely fascinating, and he was unable to tear his eyes from hers.  
  
She spoke first. "I knew you would be here. I could feel it." A moment later she spoke again. "You don't remember do you? You don't feel it?" asked Maria.  
  
"I know you from somewhere, but I just can't figure out." Michael and Maria had been in their own little world, and hadn't noticed that there were others coming into the room. They had simply kept their attention on each other, and that's why it became a shock to hear the teacher interrupt Michael and call class to order.  
  
There were two children in front of them, and what struck Michael about them, was the fact that on the left was a boy with dark hair (which was all he could make out considering he was looking at him from the back) and a blue tee-shirt. The odd thing about it though, was that there was a girl sitting next to him, and she too had the same dark hair. But her hair was long, and completely straight. In front of them were yet another boy on the right hand side, and a girl on the left. She had pretty blonde hair (although not as pretty as Maria's) and the boy had dark brown color like the boy in front of him. What struck him, and the rest of the class as odd, was the fact that they were in the middle of the class room and every row (there were four, but no one wanted to sit in the front) had boy, girl.  
  
Now, perhaps you don't remember what exactly it was like it in fourth grade, or perhaps it was only at Roswell Elementary that boys sat on the left hand side of the class with all of their friends and girls sat on the right hand side of the class room, and talked behind their hands about the boys on the other side of the room. Right from the beginning the six knew that they would be defying the standards. No one said it aloud, but from the very beginning everyone knew.  
  
~  
  
They had all become the best of friends: Max and Liz, and then Alex and Isabel, and then eventually Maria and Michael. Each set was the best friends. Wherever one went, the other was sure to follow. The six hadn't been friends. They were just other kids that sat in front of him and Maria's places in class. Occasionally they talked, and whenever Maria and Michael started to argue, it was generally, and silently, agreed upon that Max and Alex would take Michael's side (unless they received a very nasty kick from under their desks from Maria) and Isabel was on Maria's side. Liz was always the deciding factor. She was their peacekeeper. If a fight lasted longer than ten minutes she would get both of them upset with her, so they would start talking again; even if it was to get her back somehow, although they never did.  
  
One day Michael had come to school with a particularly nasty cut on his forehead and a bruise on his arm. His shirt was slightly ripped, and it looked like he himself had repaired it many times. He was embarrassed to look like that in front of Maria, but she never said anything, and acted the same as always. When he had come in, just before the bell, she had given him a look, and hardly spoke (for Maria anyway) for the rest of the day. When it was time to leave, he felt himself being tapped on the shoulder.  
  
"What do ya want 'Ria?" Michael asked. He really wasn't in a hurry. He walked home, and he wasn't in a hurry to meet Hank. Especially after the way he had ran to school this morning, but not after he had had a beer bottle thrown at him (which had left him with the cut on his head) and a few bruises.  
  
"I need your help with Math. I don't understand those times tables' fractions thingies. Do ya think you could help me with it?" asked Maria. "You could get on the bus with me, and come to my house. My mum's at the shop (her mother owned her own little alien themed merchandise store downtown) and you could help me with that and the homework we have. And we have that test on it tomorrow.." gushed Maria.  
  
"I dunno 'Ria.."  
  
"Please?? With sugar, and Cherries on top? " But before Michael could answer the busses that were a few feet away from them started to leave. It was a long walk to Maria's house from the school. She was getting on that bus, and Michael was getting on it with her. She grabbed his hand in hers and she took off catching up to the busses.  
  
The driver saw them and slowed down to meet the breathless children who were scrambling to get aboard. She pulled to the side, and stopped, and let the kids get on and take a seat. There weren't many kids on the bus, but as the class room had been divided boy, girl, so was the bus. They sat in the closest unoccupied seat, and sat down together. Maria was holding his hand, and hadn't let go. Michael hadn't let go either.  
  
Maria's stop came and when the driver opened the doors to let them out, she looked in the mirror to see the blond girl, and the messy haired kid, who had gotten on with her were arguing. The driver had never heard the little girl even speak let alone argue. He cheeks were red, and she was shaking in anger. The boy had a smirk on his face, and above his head he was holding a very sparkly and very fluffy purple pencil. Everyone on the bus was staring at the exchange that was taking place in front of them, unbeknownst to them of course.  
  
"Are you two going to get off, or what?" asked Doris, the driver. Immediately the two squabbling kids shushed up, and promptly strode up the isle of the bus. The spiky hair boy gave her pencil and without a word she stuck it in her backpack. When they reached her seat Doris asked: "Are you gonna be riding this bus here on out?" She directed the question to Michael, but Maria answered. "Yeah, he got transferred on this one this morning, but he missed it, and got a ride to school. He lives down the street from me, so he's gonna get off here too." With that Maria flashed Michael a warning glance that didn't go unnoticed by Doris, and she tugged him off the bus with her.  
  
Once they were off the bus Michael didn't know what to do. "Why'd you tell her that? I thought you wanted me to help you with your math?"  
  
"Truthfully?" asked Maria.  
  
"D'uh" was the only reply from Michael.  
  
"I do need your help in math, but.. Michael.. I know. Before you say anything, let me finish. I know about Hank. I know what he does to you. I've been waiting for you to say something, but you haven't, and I'm not letting you get hurt again. So we're going to go to my house and talk about it before my mum gets home, and then we're going to work on our homework, have some dinner, and than talk to my mum about whatever plans we have by then. OK? Now let's go, my mum bought some Oreo's and Tabasco the other day and I'm hungry." With that Michael became apart of the family, or at least unofficially.  
  
Michael had helped Maria with her fractions, ate some Tabasco doused Oreos, and had listened to Maria's plans for him concerning her mother. Maria had told them that her mother knew when people lied. "The best plan of action" she continued in her best military fashion was "to stick to the truth as much a possible, and just not mention parts of the story" Maria conveniently left out.  
  
When Amy got home that evening it was to Maria making salad, and a boy about her daughter's age setting the table. Maria had never had friends come over to the house before, and she only ever really talked about a friend of hers named Michael, who she sat next to in school. "Maria, I'm home!" called out Amy. She was soon assaulted with tiny arms and blond curls flying at her.  
  
"Mum, can Michael stay for dinner?" questioned Maria. "I made the salad, and he helped me with my math today, so do ya think he could stay and have some dinner with us? Please pretty pretty please??" begged Maria.  
  
Amy took a close look at the brooding boy standing a foot away from her, who seemed to have an uncomfortable look on his face. Amy had strange eyes. One eye, her right, was a bright green and the other dark brown. Her short brown hair was in her face, but she brushed it back and said: "sure, why not the more the merrier. I was thinking of burgers, what do you think guys?"  
  
"Yaay!!" was the joyous cry from Maria. She was babbling to Michael for five straight minutes, while Michael blinked solemnly at her. Amy smiled think that he was surely going to get lost, while listening to her daughter, but at the end of her tirade, she was shocked to find that he answered her apparent question as if it was normal for people to go around and say large amounts of things in one big breath. Amy liked him from the start.  
  
~  
  
As the weeks passed Michael stayed with Amy and Maria. Amy had always assumed that when Michael went home he stayed there, went to school, and then came home with Maria in the afternoon. Maria wouldn't hear of it.  
  
Hank had moved out of the crusty old house to a creaky trailer. He didn't work anymore, and only received paychecks from the government for taking care of Michael. He spent his money on alcohol, and never noticed Michael unless he was busy hitting him. After that first day Hank had knocked Michael unconscious, and when he hadn't turned up at school Maria went over to the trailer, and found Michael beat up. She took him home and cleaned him up as best as she could. After that she wouldn't let him go back to the trailer, unless he was getting his clothes, but he didn't have much anyway, so she kept his stuff in a trunk in her closet.  
  
~  
  
A week ago, she had gotten sick. She looked dead almost, but she would wake up to go to the bathroom, and eat a little bit of soup and talk to Michael. Michael didn't go to school the week Maria was sick. He stayed with her the whole time, and helped her with whatever he could.  
  
She was awake now. Her eye lids fluttered open and she looked up to find Michael sitting by her bedside running a hand through his hair. He had the loveliest green eyes, and his hair was always a mess, but he was so cute, and he was part of it.. part of the secret. All I can do is just stare at him, all the time. He probably thinks I am the biggest cheese head.  
  
She is the biggest cheese head. "Hey."  
  
"Hey."  
  
"You look a little cold."  
  
"You look a little tired," retorted Maria. "Did you get any sleep?"  
  
"I'll go get you some covers," was his only reply. He came back with the covers, and threw them on top of her. Making sure she was completely covered.  
  
"Come, lay down. You never get sick, you won't catch what I have, and you need to rest. We both know perfect well that you won't go to sleep on the floor or the couch but just pretend to," accused Maria.  
  
"Are you going to go to sleep?" queried Michael.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Fine, move over." Michael was tired, and the bed did look comfortable, and this way he could make sure that nothing happened to Maria, not that anything would, but he liked the thought that he was her protector. She did as he said, and they fell asleep together, her hand in hers, and that's when the dreams took over.  
  
~  
  
W hen they woke up, they knew. They knew each other's secrets; things inside of them that they themselves knew. Questions had been answered, but even more presented themselves, and they thought that they should get to know the other four who sat in front of them in class. For some strange reason, they both felt that these strangers could probably tell them more about themselves. Tell them answers to questions they didn't have yet. 


	2. De Luca Secrets

We're at the beginning of our story, where anything is possible. Where a man can love a woman and the world can go on. At the moment we're in a place where the sky is the limit, but soon, very soon that wouldn't be the case.  
  
~  
  
She was always sick. It didn't matter what time of year it was, she was sick; or at least according to Michael. Michael considered being sick once or twice a year always sick, or at least when it came to Maria. She was like his sister, and Amy was like his mother. They were the family he had never had. But when it came to Maria, things were different. There was something different about her, and he could place what it was. She was his sister..wasn't she? Whatever it was..big brother..unofficial boyfriend..a best friend..Maria was his, and he made sure she was protected, and made sure nothing happened to her.  
  
It had always been just the two of them, or even the three of them when Amy was there. When Maria started to get noticed by boys at school on their first day of Junior high, it set things in motion that in later years they would be hard pressed to find any other way of life for them, and in some ways they were glad things worked out the way they did, and other things..well...they were alive to remember everything.  
  
~  
  
"'Ria, come on!! We don't want to be late for our first day! You know how much teachers hate me anyway. I don't want to give them the wrong impression without at least one spit ball!" Michael yelled to Maria through the door to the bedroom they secretly shared. Amy was running around the house and looking for her lost earring when she heard Michael's last comment.  
  
"Michael, I hope you're not giving those teachers of yours a hard time! This is Junior High. Things are going to be different now. There's a such thing called a Permanent Record, and one stray spitball may just end up on that record, and you're ruined for High school, and if that happens.." Amy rambled. Michael had learned early on the Maria shared in Amy's habit of rambling and found the only way to end it before it got out of hand was to be quiet and wait until they weren't coherent even to themselves any more, and quickly reassured them, as he was about to do now.  
  
"I know Amy. I promise I won't use any spit balls on any of the good teachers."  
  
"Good, I'm glad you've finally..YES!! I found my missing earring!! LIFE IS GOOD!!" Amy could now be seen doing a happy dance around the living room, and Michael was slowly shaking his head; used to such antics.  
  
The door had opened that was supporting Michael, and he fell to the floor with a thud. (Occasional whoops in the living room could still be heard.) Michael looked up and saw a goddess.  
  
~  
  
Maria looked down to see Michael staring up at her wide eyed. What? Had she put on way too much lip gloss? It was the first day of Junior High, and she had wanted to look good. She had gotten a tan over the summer and her hair was an even lighter shade of blond. Her bright green eyes stood out with even more contrast against her skin, and she had only noticed it the day before.  
  
Michael had been staring at her strangely. She had caught him staring when she was doing something else. When she looked back he would quickly pretended he hadn't been staring. It had been like that all summer and she wasn't quite sure what was going on.  
  
School was starting, and for the first time Maria was thinking about boys. It hadn't been like that for her before, and so she had made an effort that day to look good. Her hair was in a pony tail, but some strands of curls fell around her face. She was wearing some white cut-off shorts and a baby blue tank top. The words: What would Michael think? popped up in her mind and they didn't seem to leave.  
  
~  
  
His dark green eyes were looking up at me from the floor. I smiled and gave him hand to help him get up. He hadn't said anything, and I was wondering if I should've just gone and gotten his flannel shirt from the bed, but it was going to be hot. The heat wave was still going on and the thought of another layer of clothing was sickening.  
  
"So, what do you think? You heard Mom; I don't want to look like a complete idiot on our first day," I asked. Michael didn't say anything. He looked like someone had struck him with the blunt end of a piece of wood. Well, that's exactly how he looked when I had hit him with a blunt piece of wood we were using to build the fort.  
  
"Hello Earth to Michael!!" I snapped my fingers in his face, knowing that would get him mad. I ran out of the hallway and his unblinking stare and found mom still doing her happy dance even if it wasn't as enthusiastic as it probably was only a few minutes ago.  
  
"Mum do we have any Cedar oil? Someone," I directed a pointed look to Michael "decided to pour all of my other ones down the toilet last night." If that didn't wake him up out of his stupor, nothing would. But he didn't say anything. He just stood there with his head lowered.  
  
~  
  
She was beautiful. How was he supposed to act around her now? He had known her since forever and they were best friends..right? Right. They shared the same room. Hello!! Michael!! If she even thought that way about him, there would be no way she would let him share her bed when he had those dreams.  
  
They were dreams that scared the living day lights out of him. He woke late in the night to Maria hugging him close and whispering in- coherent things in his ear. He would always be shaking and crying, and she would always pretend not to remember in the morning. She would make him sleep with her for the rest of the night and he made her sleep close, "for body heat."  
  
He had woken up in her bed once to find her in tears. He had questioned her in the morning and he found out that she usually woke that way. She always had such dreams and they often left her sobbing into her pillow.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me, or Amy?" he had demanded.  
  
"Because Michael, It's not a big deal. Everyone has bad dreams; some more than others. Come on, lets go get breakfast," she had reached for his hand, and held it for a moment. She looked down and rubbed it with her thumb, and than she looked back up at him and smiled. It was such a clear and happy smile. It was beautiful, and he had forgotten her dreams, or at least for the moment.  
  
They could share things. She shared her house and mother, and he shared his knowledge on cars, and spitting. But there were some things that went beyond that. There were some things that they shared at a higher level, and at the moment he wasn't sure what that was exactly.  
  
~  
  
When they got on the bus, everyone stared as they walked down the crowded isle. It wasn't Michael they were looking at, and he was perfectly aware of it. Maria was babbling away about the fort they were still working on. It only needed a few finishing touches and they wanted to make sure everything was perfect. They took their seats and Doris, their bus driver, shook her head and wondered how long it would take them.  
  
All of the boys, with exclusion of only a few were talking quietly to their friends about a certain De Luca girl. Michael on the other hand found his hands tied. He was trying to pay attention to Maria while giving any boy that glanced her way a death glare. She did eventually notice, and was curious as to what was going on.  
  
"Why are you so edgy Michael? And what's with the death glares?" Michael was surprised by this, and cursed whatever it was that allowed her to be so in tuned with his feelings. He had been just about to hit the boy with the blond hair who was just out right staring at her.  
  
"Nothing." Michael quickly lied. He looked down. She knew he was lying to her, she always knew when he lied to her. He knew it too, and when he did lie to her he had a good reason. So, she narrowed her eyes, and said nothing; a rarity as Michael put it. She looked around the bus, and noticed that most of the girls were whispering behind their hands and were giving her the look.  
  
It was the look she had gotten from her teacher when she had just met Michael. She had asked her what her father did for a living, and Maria had replied that she didn't know what her father did for a living. The teacher snorted, and announced to the whole class that Maria didn't know what her father did for a living. The implication that she was stupid hurt Maria's feelings, and she had told her matter-of-factly she didn't know what her father did for a living because he had left Roswell before she was born, and had never heard from him. Since than, she knew what the look was, and hated it. It was the look she was getting now; only for different reasons. But Maria didn't know that, so she moved closer to Michael, and took his hand in hers.  
  
~  
  
Michael looked at her after looking out the window. She was clutching his hand. "What's wrong 'Ria?" he asked, feigning innocence.  
  
"They're giving me that look Michael. The look they used to give me every father's day. I thought it was going to be different today. It's junior high. Mum says it always different when you start a new school, but look; all the girls are still giving me that look." She was right; as usual. He had only been paying attention to the boys, and his own thoughts and feelings of what was to come; he hadn't paid attention to her.  
  
He hadn't realized that she may want to be friends with other people. Maybe she didn't want to be friends with him any more. Maybe she even wanted to hang out with those stuck up girls that wore pink and giggled behind their hands when he walked past. He never understood what that had been about, but maybe she wanted to be apart of that. Maybe she wanted to have friends that were normal. Than why was she clutching his hand? Why had she been talking to him the whole time on the bus ride while he had ignored her and shot rancid looks to any boy in a 10 mile radius? Perhaps he didn't understand, but she was his friend, no matter what they were friends, and he had to try and understand, or at least pretend to.  
  
"Don't worry about it 'Ria, they're all stuck up snobs who probably haven't even heard of Ulysses," that made Maria giggle. She loved Ulysses and shared her passion with Michael. She sighed and looked out the window.  
  
~  
  
The bus pulled up to Roswell Junior High, and the two friends were assaulted with the building that loomed before them. She grabbed his hand and held it between her own. She had never done that before. She never held his hand. Sometimes she would hug him, or kiss him on the cheek but she never held his hand. Isabel never let anyone know she was scared, but he knew, and she knew it.  
  
They were starting Junior High, and they both felt a sense of foreboding. Something felt a bit off, and when they found themselves outside of the awesome tower in front of them, the feeling deepened.  
  
Alex wasn't one for theatrics or anything to do with predicting the future, but he knew it was possible to do anything. He had read in a book somewhere that there wasn't really that much known about the human brain, and there were portions of the brain that hadn't been discovered. Many scientists debated on the subject of witchcraft and the brain. Some said that all forms of magic could simply be an evolution, or even the awakening of certain parts of the brain, that most people don't use. If it was possible, Alex didn't share in any qualities that dealt with predicting the future, but there was something about today that was giving him a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.  
  
Isabel felt the same way. Something was off, and she needed Alex's comfort. He was so strong when she needed him to be; and when she didn't. He never made her feel stupid, or even a need to fit in. He was her best friend, and despite his inquisitive nature he didn't ask questions to things she didn't talk about, and she loved him for it.  
  
"We might as well go in."  
  
"I guess so," Alex replied a bit reluctantly. Nonetheless he strode forward, and still holding her hand, they walked into the building that would witness the event that would forever change their lives.  
  
~  
  
"Did you see that De Luca girl?? She was lookin' Hot!! I swear, I'm gonna get some of that!!" claimed the blonde haired boy.  
  
"Yeah right! Did you see that Guerin trash she hangs around with? He looked like he was going to tear you up in a million pieces." Brunettes really were smarter, or at least in this case. (AN: sorry, but that was for Jessica)  
  
"Yeah, whatever. I could take him. Shoot, I could get the whole eighth grade on his sorry ass. That's one of the pleasures of being an upper classmen. You don't believe me? Fine, I'll bet you on it," said the cocky blonde.  
  
"I don't know. I used to sit in back of them last year, and I do not want to be there if Maria De Luca ever found out someone made a bet about her like that; let alone be the person who did the betting. That's not even including Michael," replied the suddenly white brunette.  
  
"Fine you big wuss, I'll do it without the bet, I'll do it for fun. We'll see who has the last laugh. What do you think Evans? You haven't said anything lately. You want a piece of ass too? Maybe it would make you a man," he looked a Max Evans and saw that the new seventh grader's nose was still bleeding. "Never mind, that wouldn't even help you. It wouldn't mean much if even you got some of that."  
  
Max just looked at both of them coldly. "Are we done here?" he asked rather nonchalantly despite having just got the crap beat out of him.  
  
"Yeah, but if you tell anyone, I might not be able to restrain myself next time," answered the idiot blonde.  
  
"Whatever." With that Max walked out of the bathroom and headed toward the eraser room where his girlfriend was impatiently waiting for him.  
  
~  
  
"I knew they were going to do something. Do the words stay away from Tommy and Dave mean anything to you? God that hurt! It started to bleed! MY nose was bleeding. I stopped it of course, but still! You can't let anyone who says anything bad about me -"  
  
"I didn't tell how the fight started," interrupted Max.  
  
"What?" asked Liz.  
  
"I didn't tell you why I got in a fight with them. I purposely did it because I didn't want you to get any more upset than you already were. How did you know what had happened? YOUR nose started to bleed?"  
  
"Max, you know how I know. I've felt it all day. I saw it last week and I knew it was going to happen today. That's why I warned you. Yes, my nose started to bleed. Max, I think it's getting stronger. I saw another one today.." Liz trailed off.  
  
~  
  
"They are not staring!" I can't believe you! According to you, I'm naked and I don't realize it, and the whole god damned school is staring. You are so paranoid. I don't know why I even bother. All you do is blame me, and than start telling me all of these conspiracy theories you have about the whole lot of Junior High boys! No one even knows I'm alive except for you, and I don't even know about that sometimes," huffed Maria. Sometimes he was a pain in the ass, and unless you knew how to deal with him, or had some cedar oil, it was a frustratingly long day.  
  
"Maria, look around you!! All day, every boy in school has been talking about you. Shoot, I heard a rumor that some jerk Tommy something or other is going to ask you out at lunch time. That's why I think you should just cover up some more. Put on some baggy jeans, let you hair go wild, forget the lip gloss, and wear my flannel shirt, and you'll be fine. "  
  
"Michael, it feels like a thousand degrees in here, and that's with the A.C. on! There is no way I am going to put on more clothes than necessary. Where did you find about this little rumor? Who have you been talking to? Last time I checked you can't stand anyone in school."  
  
"That's not true; there's you," answered Michael quietly. He wasn't sure what sort of relationship they had, but whatever it was, he wasn't going to define it. Better let her do it. That way, I won't look stupid.  
  
But Maria hadn't heard him. Her head was spinning. She wasn't feeling good. "Would it be so bad? Would it really be so bad if someone did ask me out, and took an interest in me? What's wrong with my clothes anyway? I wear them around you all the time." Her vision was slightly fuzzy, but she was pissed. Who did he think he was? He was constantly confusing her, and she never got a straight answer from him whenever the question about them was brought up.  
  
"'Ria, he doesn't want to go out with you because its you, he wants you to have sex with him. I found out by Max Evans who heard it straight from his mouth. We got to talking in wood shop and he's pretty cool...but that's off the subject. Maria, you can't go out with that guy, especially.."  
  
"Well, if he plans to have sex with me and that's the only reason he wants to go out with me, than I'm not getting anywhere near him! My point was relationships. Michael, I've known you forever. We live together, and you're basically my brother, but sometimes it seems like so much more than that. Every time a conversation like this takes place you can't even give me a straight answer. Do you have feelings for me that are more than just friends? Is this just a one sided thing? Michael-"  
  
"'Ria, it's not one sided," Michael interrupted.  
  
"It's not?" Maria questioned.  
  
"No, 'Ria I...'Ria..'RIA!!!" Maria was sliding to the floor. She fell to the floor, and in a moment Michael was at her side and was trying to shake her awake. "MOM, MOM, MARIA'S UNCONSCIENCE!!" Michael shouted to Amy De Luca who had been running around trying to find her other earring (again). Amy rushed in (with only one earring) and found Maria's eye lids fluttering, just barely.  
  
"It's OK Michael, she's not unconscious she just fainted. Come on; help me get her to the bed." Together Michael and Amy managed to get Maria on the bed.  
  
~  
  
When Maria did wake it was to the peering faces of Michael and Amy. What happened? Why did she feel like a truck had just run over her? Oh, no. She must have blacked out, again. I guess I get to stay home. At least I won't have to worry about what I wear to school after all.  
  
"Thank the goddess you're OK. Michael scared the hell out of me. Are you OK? I heard arguing in here. Were you two fighting again? How were you feeling? Why didn't you tell one of us? Maria these things are important. You have to tell someone. We can't prevent it if-"  
  
"I know mum, sorry it just sort of sprung up on me. I didn't really get too much of a warning. I promise I won't do it again, and yes, I'm fine. Go on get to work, I'll be OK.  
  
"Are you sure? This hasn't been happening lately has it?" asked Amy.  
  
"No mum it hasn't been happening lately. Today was the first time in two months. But you have to go to work, and we need to save your sick days so we can go on that shopping trip." Maria knew she was never going to be able to go on that shopping trip with her mother. Amy was constantly taking days off of work, and wouldn't tell Maria where she went. She was never sick, but hey, that was her mother's business; don't ask, don't tell.  
  
Amy smiled. "OK, but only if your sure your going to be fine. And Michael, if anything happens, you'll call right?"  
  
"Yeah, I have the number," Michael answered.  
  
"All right, but I have to go and find my earring, and then I'll be off." Amy rushed out of the room, and after a few minutes she found her earring, (on her bedside table) said her good byes, and took off.  
  
The tension in Maria's room was so thick; you could use a knife to cut through it. Maria was reclining on her bed with her eyes closed and was waiting for Michael to start his bantering about her taking care of herself, and how she needed to stop and rest, because it wasn't good for health. But the banter never came, and she was left with silence.  
  
~  
  
He was shaking. She had looked dead, and when he first saw her on the floor, that was what he had first thought, but he rushed towards her and had felt her pulse. She was alive, but the image of her still like that had moved something inside of him. Something that he hadn't known was inside of him had surfaced, and he had seen something.  
  
It was memory. It was a picture he had seen so many times before in his dreams. Every night he went to sleep and 9 times out of 10, the nightmares would come to him. When he woke he couldn't remember them anymore, but just now he had remembered. He had held Maria in his arms while she died. She had spoken her last words to him, and she had said how much she had loved him. She had tried to reassure him that it was worth dying for because it was him. She had always loved him, and she would never take any of it back. She looked down and rubbed it with her thumb, and than she looked back up at him and smiled. It was such a clear and happy smile. She than went on to say that she was proud of him. They were endearments he remembered. Not in his dreams, but in real life. She had made that gesture when he had first confronted her about her own dreams. She had told him of her being proud of him when she had first met him. Could these be things she saw in her dreams? Were they memories?  
  
"I love you 'Ria." He had said it. He had never said that to any one before. He had never really felt that way about someone before.  
  
"Are you sure you want me to hear that?" Maria asked.  
  
"Depends if you feel the same way."  
  
"Yeah , I guess I do," Maria admitted.  
  
"Then yes, I want you to know I love you."  
  
"We're in seventh grade Michael, and we're talking about love. Love! Something that takes years, months, weeks, hours to decide about, and we did it in seconds! People go through their whole lives without finding the One, and here we are, in seventh grade.." Maria ranted.  
  
"But 'Ria, they didn't have the dreams."  
  
Maria stopped there. So, he remembered. It was kind of hard to not remember your own death, but maybe he found a way to block it out. There had been so much pain, not physical exactly, but more like your soul was being ripped from you, and all she had wanted was to do was to stay there with the man she loved.  
  
"What did your dreams show you?" Maria asked.  
  
"I saw you die 'Ria. It was..it was..it was the most god awful thing I have ever had to live through, but than again I didn't, did I?"  
  
"Michael, you know that we're different. You know that there's something about us that just doesn't seem normal. Michael we're not from here. We're from somewhere else, at a different time."  
  
"Maria you're not making any sense, what are you talking about."  
  
"Michael you were found when you were six right? Well, I don't have any memories before I was six. Michael, we're from another planet, we're aliens, who've been reincarnated."  
  
"Maria, I think you've been reading a little too much.."  
  
"Michael ordinary people don't have dreams about their girlfriends dying; especially when the two of them are having the dream at the same time. It's also why you and mum don't get sick. Yes, mum's one too, but she's something completely different. Michael, we were killed on our planet over fifty years ago. Scientists combined our DNA with that of humans, so we would look, think, and blend in with humans, but we're not Michael. We're not human. We were sent to Earth so we could have another chance to live, and here we are, but something's wrong Michael. Something's wrong this week. I've been in complete over load, and I don't know.." Tears were streaming down Maria's face. Her face had gone white, and she was now visibly shaking.  
  
Michael felt the need to protect her. He climbed on the bed, and held her close. She clung to him, and her tears soaked his shirt. He didn't care. He wasn't crazy. The thoughts that were going through his head, had been along the lines of those Maria had been describing. He wasn't crazy, and if he was some one else was crazy with him too.  
  
AN: OK, guys, I know I said that I would have had this posted sometime on the morning of 1/10/04 at the very latest, but I just started writing it this after noon, and it's taken me about 3 hours to type, and it's really cold in my house (feels like 30) and it's making my fingers stiff. I'm really sorry, but if it makes you feel better my first chapter was only seven pages, and this one was 11. I wanted to put so much more in this chapter, but it's getting late, and I still have a ton of homework I have to do.  
  
PS I have one part fic about M&M coming up. I hope to post that tomorrow.  
  
PSPS There are many starving artists, I'm a thirsty writer. Please review!! Thank you so much to the people who have reviewed previously, I feel so great, and I hope you liked this, by the way, the rating is changing already 'cause they're moving up in school, and that's when language, and topics become a little "coarser" any way it's going to move up even more by the end. Tell me what you think about that. Thanks so much!!  
  
4,712 


	3. De Luca Secrets Part Two

"You are so beautiful," Michael whispered in her ear. His hands were wrapped around her waist, and his breath was tickling her ear. It was a promise, an unspoken one, but valid nonetheless. His fingers were tracing small patterns along her waist where his hands lay. Her skin was aglow, and all she could think of was what he was going to do in a moment or two from now. She wasn't sure if she could hold out much longer. She had to kiss him. Just to know what the sensation was like. She had never been kissed before, and god, she hoped that he would be her first. Her body was telling her crazy things. Things she had never felt before. It was as if her body was only just waking from a long slumber, and she prayed she would never sleep again.  
  
His soft lips were trailing kisses along her neck. What was he going to do next? Would she like it? Would she be able to do it back? The only answer she could come up with was definitely, and the thought put a smile on her face. But the real question was weather she would be able to do it properly. Would she; when the time came? It wasn't now. It was too soon. The timing wasn't right, and they both new that, but there wasn't any point in denying what they felt, what they wanted. His face found hers. His green eyes met hers in perfect understanding. He leaned forward, and she closed her eyes in anticipation...  
  
The blinking lights stared at her from her nightstand. Where was she? The clock was still blinking at her fuzzily. Twelve o'clock? The electric must have gone out while she had been sleeping. The sun was shinning through her window, the birds were chirping, the answering machine's light was blinking, and Michael and she were entwined. Nothing in the world could be more perfect...wait... She...and Michael...were...dare she think it....entwined?  
  
How could that have happened? What if everything that had just happened a minute ago, really had happened and it wasn't apart of a dream. Maybe it really had had happened, and because of the excitement of it all, she had simply fell asleep in his arms, and was now here. Or perhaps they hadn't just fallen asleep. Perhaps something else happened. Something she had felt she hadn't been ready for before. Was she still a virgin? Could she get pregnant? Was it a possibility? What would he think? How was she going to tell him? What about school? It was still early in the year, they could get home schooling, couldn't they? Or maybe he would go to school, and she would have to stay home by her self. Mum needed to work, so how was she going to get her education? Babies' cost money, how was she going to pay for it all? There was doctor's visits, and diapers...and at that moment, reality came back to Maria.  
  
He had held her in his arms, and she had fallen asleep, and what had 'really' happened minutes before was nothing more than a dream; a very nice dream. Ahhh..To have him in my arms..wait, he is in my arms.  
  
"You are so beautiful when you sleep," came the muffled reply from Maria's side. She quickly turned her head to look at the owner of the voice to find that he still had his eyes closed and looked as if he had no intention of letting her go.  
  
"Michael how did we-"  
  
"You don't remember?" asked Michael.  
  
~  
  
"You don't remember?" I asked. She was beautiful. It didn't matter what she was doing. She was the most gorges girl in the world, and he would never trade her for anything. To my immense stupidity, I told her so. She smiled at me (which I could see after I opened my eyes) and looked slightly shocked that I returned it. "I told the girl I love how I felt about her, and she doesn't remember it, is what happened. Although, I did wake up with her lying, basically, on top of me this morning, so maybe it isn't such a bad thing."  
  
"Michael, be serious. I know all of that, but how did I end up like this.. with you..in my bed?"  
  
You were upset last night, and I was just a shoulder to cry on. You fell asleep, and I tried to get some sleep on the couch, since the door was open and I didn't think it would be cool if mum came in and.." I trailed off.  
  
I had just called Ms. De Luca mum.  
  
I had just called Ms. Amy De Luca mum.  
  
The same person's mum-whom-I-happen-to-be-holding-for-dear-life-mum.  
  
Another thing that scared me is that I did it last night too. When I thought 'Ria was dead I had done it. The other thought that was scurrying about in mind was one of incest. If I thought of Amy as my mother, than who was 'Ria to me?? A sister?? A sister whom I happened to have had..umm..naughty (?) feelings for?  
  
'Ria noticed my silence, and smiled. It was such a beautiful smile. One of content and.when did I become so sappy. I seriously need to stop sleeping during English; I think the poetry unit we're doing is starting to seep into my brain.  
  
I quickly came back down to reality as I felt a certain someone rub themselves against me, and sigh in contentment. (See there I go again!! I better take the silent treatment with anyone I don't REALLY know. If it's this bad in my head what's going to happen when I talk to people?) He eyes closed and she looked like she was drifting off to sleep.  
  
"'Ria, what do you think you're doing? It's about four in the afternoon. If you continue to sleep like this, you're going to keep me up all night, and we have to go to school tomorrow and..'RIA!!"  
  
"What? I'm trying to get comfortable, now keep still..ummm you really are comfortable to lay on, ya know that?" Maria was now on top of me, sort of. It was more of a half on me sort of thing. Mm-mmm. Doesn't she know what she's doing to me??  
  
~  
  
He is so cute. God he's comfortable. Just being here with him like this..I have never felt so..together. I'm not talking 'put it together' together, more like: 'I cut my toe off and they sewed it back on' together.  
  
He thinks of us as his family. Finally after all of these years..we are a family. I've always wanted a family and now I have one.  
  
My hand snakes its way up to his face and I found, to my surprise, that my fingers are stroking his eyebrows. Mm-mmm.  
  
Wait.I'M STROKING HIS EYEBROWS???  
  
~  
  
She is stroking my eyebrows. Weird, I know, but it's so..relaxing, and calming. My breath is starting to even out. My eyes are drowsy, and I move to shut them, but I found that they were already shut. The pillow feels so soft, and they keep on stroking, and suddenly it stops.  
  
I had temporarily been outside of my body. I was in nirvana, and suddenly I'm back inside of my body, and as the feeling of loss enclosed on me. I had another memory come to me. It was another moment of tenderness between the two of us. It was a time where she had been laying on me in much the same way, and had been trying to calm me back to sleep. Nothing had worked, and I had feared the worse for the baby, but she had still been trying to get me to sleep, and by touching my eyebrows she had.  
  
I was remembering things I hadn't ever remembered before. The closer we got to each other the more I seemed to remember. I seemed to remember more of the something else I had been at another time. A person I couldn't recall without her. A man I hadn't been able to become without her and that damn cedar oil. God I love her. I want to kiss her. I want to feel her soft lips against mine. I want to know for certain if she felt the same way about me and would express it.  
  
It would be my first kiss. Would she want to kiss me? Would I know how? Would she know how? Had she ever kissed someone before, and hadn't told me? She hadn't really wanted to talk about that idiot Tommy this morning. Maybe she had had boyfriends, and simply hadn't told me. It's possible.  
  
Suddenly a warm mouth was pressed against his.  
  
~  
  
It was coming now in such a fast succession that the world seemed to have fallen off of its axis. There were pictures and memories, dates, name lives, thoughts, feelings, ideas, everything. It was like their whole world had been shared in that single kiss. What they didn't know was that there was more than one world. There was a world inside of them they couldn't and wouldn't remember until they had expressed their love in the most eternal way possible.  
  
Michael and Maria were just starting to admit their feelings for each other, while Alex and Isabel discussed the plan.  
  
~  
  
"They did it; finally. I was starting to wonder if he was ever going to kiss her."  
  
"He didn't. She kissed him."  
  
"How do you know?" asked Isabel.  
  
"How else would I know? I saw it. I felt it when she did it," responded Alex.  
  
"It's time than isn't it?" asked Isabel.  
  
"Yeah. We have to go and get them. But before we do, why don't we practice a little more, so we can have something impressive to show them? You know my powers go out of control whenever we're all in the same room. Need I remind you of the little food fight that gets started every year on the first day of school? Besides, I don't think I want to interrupt Maria and Michael right now. Do you know how she gets when she's pissed?"  
  
"All right, we'll practice with a few chairs, and then we'll go and get Liz and Max before we go see Michael and Maria." Isabel then threw a plate at Alex face, and before it made contact it was hovering in the air.  
  
~  
  
A half hour later found Alex and Isabel walking down the street towards the elementary playground where all six of them would play during recess. They never really played together, but all of them swung on the swings with their counter-part, and quietly enjoyed the rests' company. Max and Liz were waiting for them.  
  
Alex was watching Liz. Her head was thrown back, and she was laughing. She was aglow and looked as if she hadn't a worry in the world. She was pumping her legs up and down trying to get the swing to go "higher, higher!" just as she had when they were younger. Max was talking to her, but Alex didn't miss the expression on his face. His body was relaxed, and a small smile was on his face. He looked like a little boy who had just found a secret stash of the largest jaw-breakers ever made.  
  
Suddenly his body tensed, and Liz looked over to them at the same moment. They were in sync with each other. No wonder Alex thought to him self. With a past like that, who would waste the time they do have.  
  
Alex and Isabel were holding hands. They were just standing there waiting for us to notice them. Alex had always been like that. Knew who he was and what he was going to do, and he would wait patiently for the rest of the world to realize what he was doing and to know that whatever decision he had come up with during his wait was his last and final one. He had always thought a lot, and never cared what people said. He cared about the way they thought though. He used to say that it wasn't the thoughts themselves he was interested in, but rather why they thought them, and it was only proof of what was to come. I had always been the shy one. I only wanted to be accepted in love. I wanted to do right by the world, and fall in love with a good man, and be happy, and I wished the same for the rest of the world, but things were so different then, and no wonder..  
  
We knew that they would come. I had felt it for days, and I knew Max knew it when she had finally done it. It was going to start now. It was a kiss that was going to seal our fate one way or another. It was Destiny.  
  
"We thought you might come here," Liz said.  
  
"Bull Shit. Liz, you knew we would come. You saw it. You've seem it more times than I have," retorted Alex.  
  
"OK, I knew. But is that how you're gonna treat me? Where's my hug?" Liz asked. At that moment the tension broke, and hugs were given all around. They hadn't ever really talked before; afraid of what some of them knew was coming. There was no delaying it any further and today they had to be together; a unit that wouldn't be destroyed...again.  
  
~  
  
Their first kiss. It was the last kiss. It was time. She hadn't prepared them. She hadn't wanted to. Maria remembered some of it, but not all 0of it, and what she knew was completely different from the truth. They had to know. They had to find out what was really going on. That damn kiss!! If only..I have to get there as soon as possible. I have to help them. It's only a matter of time before someone gets there before she does. OH GOD..HER POWERS!! I left the two of them in the house by themselves, and then she's going to get her powers, and lord only knew why they enhanced emotions. If only she was back home. Than maybe she would be able to get to them faster. Damn rush hour!! She didn't want to have an emotional, hormonal, teenage girl, and her boyfriend in the house by themselves a minute longer. It was safe to say that Amy De Luca was in a rush to get to her ho0use before any one else did.  
  
~  
  
"We have to go somewhere where no one could hear us. Somewhere no one would know where we were." Max was pacing up and down the living room. He was driving Maria crazy. If he didn't stop any minute she wouldn't be responsible. 59..58..57..56..  
  
10..9..  
  
2..1..  
  
Michael's arm slipped around Maria's shoulders just as she thought she was going to kill Max. She leaned into his arms and concentrated solely on Michael's heart beating under his shirt. He smelled so good. It was so different. They used the same soap, and he never wore cologne, and yet he managed to smell so completely different that her. It was a mystery, and it was one she was trying to solve to keep her mind away from Max and his pacing.  
  
"Ya know, we do have a tree house," Michael interrupted Max in mid rant. "It's not finished exactly, 'cause when school started we had to put it off to the weekends, and than 'Ria got sick.."  
  
Max didn't seem to hear the last part of the sentence, and was already pulling his jacket around his shoulders. "Where to?" he asked.  
  
"Oh no buddy, you're not getting of that easily. There are some things we need to talk about if you're coming in me and Michaels' tree house. First off NO PACING!! It's driving me crazy, and we had to use some cheap boards if we were going to have enough money for the rest of it. Secondly, there's no little Max and Liz trips without the consent of the both of us, and we both have to be there when you ask. The same goes for the rest of you. And if you think.." Michael slipped his arm around her at the last part, and quite suddenly Maria ended her tirade. This act didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the group.  
  
Her body visibly relaxed into him. He leaned down and whispered something into her hair. He kissed her head and they lead the way to the tree house  
  
~  
  
"So what's the low-down on everything. I just have bits and pieces, and I'm not sure about those." Maria knew for certain that she was an alien from outer space, and the other teens around her would be able to help her. She had forgotten about the time when she was younger and she had been certain of this knowledge, but it was strange, it was as if it had been wiped from her memory; or until she had kissed Michael. What a kiss, Maria had thought to her self.  
  
"Well all of us have special abilities," stated Liz. She had always been the scientific one, and she was quickly 'morphing' as Max liked to cal it, into that state of mind. "Each of us here can do things. There are major abilities we can do best with our partner."  
  
"Partner?" questioned Maria.  
  
"Come on, don't tell me you haven't figured it out yet," Liz asked in disbelief. When she saw Maria's total look of confusion she said gently in a much calmer tone: "We're paired off the six of us: me and Max, Isabel and Alex, and you and Michael. I don't know if we were supposed to find each other this way or not, but nonetheless it is obvious that we are paired. Max and I can heal; Animals, people, and sometimes plants, although we can't heal ourselves."  
  
"Alex and I can move things with our minds," volunteered Isabel. She hadn't spoken much since before she and Alex had left the house. Alex's hand moved and found hers. Isabel felt a contented stupor fall over her. Her breath was starting to even out. She was at peace. She had temporarily been outside of her body. She was in nirvana, and suddenly she was back inside of her body, and as the feeling of loss enclosed on her she realized why.  
  
His hand was buzzing with energy. His pulse was starting to grow more and more rapid. It was coming. I could feel it. "Max, Michael!!! It's coming!!! Another one is coming!!" I don't know what happened next, but I was there. I was inside of his vision. I was standing next to him and was holding on to him for dear life. I was telekinetic. I didn't have premonitions like they did. I sensed people's emotions (mostly Alex's) I was a telekinetic empathy, and being inside of a premonition was scaring the shit out of me.  
  
Everyone was there. I don't remember how exactly, but they were. Amy and the adults were there. She was standing next to man Michael and Maria couldn't place exactly, and when they did they realized it was their parents.  
  
Amy had always had one blue eye and one green. Michael tended to forget, but in the vision it was startling. The man next to her (Maria's father) had the same eyes. They were the same height and where her right eye was green his left was green. When they stood next to each other it was like two identical eyes. Mr. and Mrs. Whitman were there also and he noticed that they were the same, except their eyes were blue and hazel. The same color as Alex's and Isabel's eyes. Nancy and Jeff Parker had brown and Hazel eyes, but their primary color being brown just like Max and Liz's.  
  
Just as suddenly as the vision had begun it ended, and the six of them found themselves sprawled along the floor. It was going to be OK. Things were going to be fine.  
  
The six teens talked about their first kiss. They talked about their powers, and they found that they had many things in common. Max, Michael, and Isabel were Empaths, although they mostly used that power with their partner. Alex, Maria, and Liz had visions, although Maria couldn't remember most of hers.  
  
It was true that Max and Liz could heal, and Alex and Isabel could move things with their minds, they realized that Michael and Maria could dream walk. It meant they could go into people's dreams. It explained things Maria had always questioned.  
  
They all had secrets, but it was now, for the first time that the De Luca secrets had been shared and now the sixth of them were part of the secret.  
  
~  
  
They used their powers to finish the rest of the tree fort, and spent the rest of the day talking about nothing in particular, most of the time. Years had passed, and their sophomore year was about to begin. Life was defiantly going to take another turn.  
  
TBC..  
  
AN: Hey guys!! Thanks so much for the reviews!! You have no idea how much I love reading them. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I'm really happy that I got this finished on Sunday. (So far I've had each chapter posted on..oh wait that was Saturday..oh well, it's still the weekend.) Anyway, I hope you liked it. I wanted to have more in it, but I haven't typed this much in a long time, and my wrists hurt. I plan to follow a lot of the show from here o out, but there are going to be a lot of differences. Everything you once knew about Roswell is going to be different. Believe me!!! But the MaJoR events are going to still happen; Like the Shooting. Opps. Is that saying too much? N E Way, I hope you like the direction it's going so far, and I hope you keep reviewing.  
  
PS If there's anyone out there who's reading this, and they know the specifics on Destiny, could they please send me their email address in a review. I'll email you the specifics then. Gtg, I hope you enjoyed it!!!  
  
Erlinda (mysticvysgiyi)  
  
3,728 (words) 


	4. The Shooting

AN: Hey!! First I have to say how much I love each and every one of you who are still reading my story. Secondly I have to say that this is probably going to be it for a long while or until I get someone to (in a review) work with me on the next bit. Not that I want to give anything away, but I need someone who knows what was goin' on with Destiny. I remember the idea, but not what was said; so if there's anyone out there that can help me, please tell me and leave me with your Email address, and I'll email you later. Thanks so much you seven!! I love ya!! Have a good one!! Erlinda  
  
It's difficult to say where life is taking us. We want tings we're not sure we can even ask for. I want to have a normal life, and live it with the woman of my dreams. I didn't ask for a life where a first kiss was dangerous. I didn't ask to have to be careful; I didn't even want to have to blend in. I just wanted to be normal. I can't ever be the best at something, because I might lead the enemies straight to us. I can't stand out. What's worst of all is that none of us can. Liz, Alex, Michael, Isabel, Maria and I. Somehow I think it's my fault; all of it; the hiding, the tension, the rules. It's an abyss. Something we fell into when we first kissed our best friends. I wouldn't change it for anything, if I had Liz. But what about the others? Would they trade it all for normal lives, if they might have the chance of finding each other later? I still feel like I'm responsible, and the sad part is, I don't care if they would give it back. I would stay like this forever, because although we might have a normal life and a chance we'll meet again later, there's still a chance we might not, and I would never loose Liz, even if it means exposing our secret. Even if it means that we're all different. It's a decision I made a long time ago, and it feels like I have the rig ht to make that decision. I don't know why, but I have, and on top of that I'm responsible for everything.  
  
~  
  
Sophomore year; It was a year where they could lay low. No more of Maria's voting for me to be Science Club president. Low key that was the plan and that was what they were going to stick to this year. Max. He was incredible. Lately they were doing things . . . He felt so good, and he knew exactly where to touch her to set her on fire. It felt so good. When they were in fifth grade they had gotten together. Whish mostly meant holding hands and all of that. She had kissed him a week later. It had been her first kiss. Last night definitely hadn't been but it was great. They had gone to the desert and sat under the stars. It was completely platonic, or at least it started out that way. Then all of the sudden they had been all over each other. Things would've gotten out of control if she hadn't parted away from him and asked: "are you sure?" She was the careful one. She was the one that made sure that everything was mutually agreed on. They hadn't been ready, but the thought of it, well, I was ready to make a little trip to the eraser room and use her . . . energy . . . for better things.  
  
"Hey. I saw you from across the hall, and I thought I should bless you with my company. How about Friday Night? I'll pick you up at six," said the confident male voice behind her. EWWWW. Had he really just said that? Who did he thinks he was? I turned around to find a stock brunet with dark hair and blue eyes. He looked like the all-American football type. Why was he so interested in me? It didn't really matter. I have a boyfriend. One I was looking for at the moment, so we could go and . . . . Examine . . . . The eraser room.  
  
"Sorry, but I have a boyfriend. I guess I'll see you later." Without another thought of jock-boy I was on my way to finding Max. Hello! Earth to Max!! I called silently. I definitely need to get more fresh air. I was talking to Max in my head. We were holding a whole conversation, and he was whispering things to me that were making me blush. I really needed fresh air. I was telling him to meet me in the eraser room. It was a test. If he came I wasn't crazy, and we had a serious problem, and if he didn't, than I could always wait it out. (We have the same first period together, he would figure it out.)  
  
The door opened and in walked Max. In a moment we were kissing, and as usual images were coming to me, full force. His hands were everywhere. My hair, my waist, and up my arms.  
  
~  
  
I had been talking with her; or at least in my mind. According to the flashes I was getting from her, she was talking to me too. When were we ever able to do that?? We were going to need a serious meeting at lunch today.  
  
The eraser room. I had to get to the eraser room. The thoughts In her head were driving me insane. She wanted me. She wanted me to be with her. That way. The way hadn't ever been before. I hadn't really discussed it with her before. But lately . . . . We had always controlled ourselves. He had never pressured her, and felt that it was her decision to make, but lately things had been different. Lately it was becoming harder and herder to stop; to simply save it for another time. It was like a hunger. It was an all consuming passion. Liz was having visions while she slept, and every night she would creep over to his bedroom and beg for him to hold her while she cried. Not that it took much begging from her. I would do anything for her. I would give anything and everything for her.  
  
~  
  
We're in the eraser room, and God, if this isn't heaven I don't know what is. Her hair, her skin, her lips taste like strawberries. I don't know what it is about her that drives me out of control like this; this small little wisp of a girl with long, straight brown hair and soft chocolate eyes. It's not just her beauty that I love about her, or even her intelligence. She's got the soul of an angel. It's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I've only seen it a few times, and when I do it's only at night. It's only when I hold her close to me and let her cry on my shoulder, while I whisper incoherent things in her ear. It's dazzling, and fits her perfectly.  
  
"I love you, Zan," she whispers in between kisses.  
  
"I love you too," I whisper breathlessly. I'm leaning in for another kiss, but her eyes are open and in them I see something. I see that she's not here. She's not kissing me because she wants to. She's kissing me because she's in a vision. In her vision she's kissing me and telling me she loves me.  
  
"We have to go now, Zan. They're coming, and there's no stopping them!! We have to get out of here!" She's scared. It's coming off of her in waves. She's shaking I realize, and I pull her close. She's becoming hysterical. Why? What's happening? I'm reaching out now with my gifts. I'm reaching, so I can go into her vision, and try to comfort her, but I can't. Liz won't let me. She won't let me see what's wrong. She's always let me in. Then I realize that it's not just her that won't let me see. There's something else. There's someone else who won't let me share her vision.  
  
"Zan!!! Vilandra!!! Rath!!! Don't you dare follow us!! We saw. . . .We saw the whole thing!" Her voice is different. It sounds a lot like Maria's.  
  
"Zan showed me. He let me see his soul. He didn't . . . . Zan's coming too. We have room." Liz's breath is becoming shallower. I want to go inside of her, and feed her more oxygen, but no matter what I try she won't let me in. I can't use my healing ability on her if she won't let me. I wonder why. I can on anyone else. Like that on time Michael let Maria shave him. (Don't ask, don't tell.) She cut him, and was trying to see if I could heal one of us. Maybe it didn't work on our kind. Michael wouldn't let me. I finally wrestled him into it and I did it. He punched me in the nose after I finished. Why couldn't I heal Liz even if she didn't want me to?  
  
Liz fell in a heap in my arms.  
  
"My god Max. I . . . .it was the worst thing that ever happened to me. I never . . . . It's the dream I've been having. I . . . "  
  
"It's OK Liz. Everything is going to be OK. I promise. I know that everything is kind of off, but it's OK. We'll get through this together." I was trying to reassure it her. It wasn't fair that she was having these visions, and I was powerless to do anything. I was glad then, that it had only been Liz. No one e3lse had these visions and we were in a dark closet. I was going to help Liz get through this and . . . . . OH MY GOD!!! MARIA!! ALEX!!!  
  
"It's OK Max, they weren't in school, or at least in class when it started. Maria was in Lunch, and Michael hauled her off in the Jetta back home. Alex and Isabel were in art. No one was around and when they got the signs they took off in the Jeep." Liz always knew what I was thinking. I was the empathy, but she was so much better at reading me. I couldn't control that power. Healing, changing molecular structure was all fine and well, but being an empath was something completely different.  
  
"How did you know?" I started.  
  
"I just knew. Max it's getting stronger. I can't explain it . . . . It's like whenever you touch me now, things are amplified. I can hear your thoughts, I can . . . . It's like everything is in over-drive. EVERYTHING. That's why everything between us is so different. I don't know what's going on exactly, but it's monumental. We have to get to the fort. Everyone's going to meet there. You drilled it into us enough to know that." She was attempting a joke and the weak smile she was wearing was proof of that.  
  
"OK, let's get out of this joint," I answered. She gave me a weird look. "I always wanted to say that" I said in reply to her silent question.  
  
"OK. . . "  
  
~  
  
Oh God. I thought he was dieng. We knew it was going to start. I had felt it. We were in the art room, and . . . . OK, I know what you are thinking, we don't even take art. But with Max and Liz being all hot and heavy. . . . . Well it kind of rubbed off on us. Since Max has been having these spontaneous hormonal urges, he's being waaaay more over-protective than usual. We just needed a little time for ourselves. It was first period, and what's the point of home-room any way? No one was in Art, so we took advantage of it while we could. That's when I felt it. I had been there when Alex was getting the first signs before. It was an intense feeling of numbness. It was like static was generating inside of him from the outside in. He said there wasn't any pain involved unless the vision was violent. If I went into the vision with him, it left me feeling comatose daze for hours. Alex just said that my body, and mind wasn't meant to have these visions, and that's why they hurt me so much. So, when I tried to connect with him, I wasn't too surprised that I couldn't. Perhaps he was just trying to save me the pain he was feeling. But when he woke up, there was pain there. It was a different sort of pain; a pain that I wouldn't have known if I weren't an empath. His heart was broken, and he refused to tell me why. We went to the tree house and we waited.  
  
I wanted to cry. It was hurting me; the pain Alex was feeling. It was the worst thing I have ever felt in my entire life. Tears were slipping down my face as I realized that I was the cause of it. I could feel his feelings twards me, and it was hurting. It was sheer physical pain, but only to the soul. He was confused. I can't understand how he could feel so upset with that much confusion. Why won't he just talk to me??  
  
There was static in the air, and I knew than that there was another vision coming for Alex. Instinctively I reached for his hand, and to my surprise he let me hold it. It was paining him. Just relieving the flash was hurting him physically. This one wasn't like the others; this one was being forced on him. Whoever was sending him this flash wanted me to see it. That was why he was letting me hold his hand. He wasn't controlling it. He didn't have his control of his flashes as usual. Alex was struggling just to keep conciseness.  
  
I thought the pain I felt from him earlier was bad, but this was worse. I was standing behind a wall of some sort. I couldn't see what was going on, but I could hear everything that was being said. There were several voices in the room and all of them had a drippy accent I couldn't pace. I realized that I wasn't in the room myself, but I was seeing a memory. This was the memory of someone who had been in the room. I only realized it because when the person did peak from behind the wall there was a man who was holding something metallic with what looked like symbols transcribed from it. He was reading off of it, and I realized that he wasn't speaking English. Was this an alien? Was this man someone who had come from the same place I had? The boy (I realized that he was a kitchen boy when he looked in the mirror and caught his reflection of himself.) quickly hid behind the wall again and listened to the conversation.  
  
I don't understand what's happening. This is the second vision in an hour. This is the first imposed vision I've ever had and it's taking a toll on my being, but it's important. It has something to do with the earlier vision.  
  
"You have to send Vilandra into hiding."  
  
"There is no way I'm going into hiding! I will not let the two of you conspire against me like this!! Zan you're my brother - in law and you're-"  
  
"That's right. I am your brother-in law and I want to do what's best for you."  
  
"'What's best for me?' How do you know what's best for me? You haven't got a clue! All you do is fawn all over-"  
  
"That's not fair Lonnie. You know very well how we feel about each other. It's the same way the two of you feel! Do you think I want this? Do you think that I want this? Do you think that I want to pretend? I want to tell the whole world our secret but we can't. You know it isn't possible. I know things that I can't even tell her. You have to go into hiding, there's no other choice!"  
  
"I'm not leaving! I have work I have to do here. You'll be lost without me! What about all of the diplomats that you're going to need on your side? What about all of the Generals who have an interest in women? You need me! They don't know . . . . We're the only ones who know our secret. It's a chance; a weapon. One we can use to win! I know we can do it! I'm not leaving!"  
  
"We have to have someone there we can trust Lonnie; someone who can bring the whole thing together. We need someone there who's been threw all of it to let them see. So, when the time comes we can fix all of this."  
  
"I'm not going!!"  
  
"I have an Idea."  
  
It was a voice Isabel knew. It was the gentlest voice she had ever heard. It was a voice that she had fallen in love with every day of her life. It was Alex' voice.  
  
"Vilandra's not leaving, and Zan's right. We need to have someone there we can trust, who'll bring this whole thing together at a moments notice. Vilandra's right. It can't be her. She's important here and she can get secrets out of people we could never get close to. We know her, love her," his voice cracked on the word love, "and we can trust her. She has to stay. Zan will go. I'll stay here and watch over her and make sure that things don't get out of hand," There was a tone in his voice. It was a tone that commanded compliance, and if Isabel thought about it she would've sworn he was a king, a president, a diplomat. He was a person who commanded the attention of everyone in the room and his opinion left no room for contestation.  
  
There was a heavy sigh. It came in the direction of where Zan would've been. "You're right of course. I guess it's all for the best. I better go before someone from the staff comes up here and hears all about this, or worse, recognize who I am. DAMN IT!! Why can't I just be a normal person? I have to drag every one into all of this?"  
  
"It's what happens when you're a king with a conscience."  
  
~  
  
They weren't going to go to the fort. They had called Alex' cell and told him that. They were going to spend the day together until it was time for Liz to start her shift at the Crashdown Café. They weren't -planning on doing anything. They went out to a strange pile of rocks they used to visit when they were kids. They felt at home there. Things were simple there.  
  
The rocks jutted out and one was standing out in particular. It was odd; just like them. They sat and talked. They sat and listened to the wind. They sat and thought. They could still communicate and that above all things was odd in it's self. What did it mean? What was with the visions Liz had been having today? She wouldn't let him in, but she let him hold her.  
  
~  
  
Her shift was about to start soon. She was getting dressed in the back of the alien themed restaurant her family owned. She was a waitress there and the money she earned was just enough to help with the Jeep's gas, Maria's loans, and Alex' supply of clothes he "barrowed" when he came over before a date with Isabel. She made her money and spent in on others. She never complained. What was she supposed to do with the money anyway? She saved a secret sum of every paycheck and put it in a savings account. She didn't keep any money at home, and the savings account was under a name no one in Roswell, New Mexico new about.  
  
She had been having awful nightmares lately. Some of them were her visions that came to her in sleep, and others were premonitions of something to come. She didn't want to be here. Everything inside of her was screaming to get her and Max out of here, but another part of her knew that if she did something worse would happen. It was best to just let this run its course.  
  
~  
  
She had been serving customers for about an hour. She had a piece of hair that just would lie straight no matter what she did. It was cute, which was sooo not Maria. She was never cute. She was his Goddess. She was walking over here and I gave her a smirk. I told her she wouldn't be able to go a whole day without talking to me. It worked so far, even through the whole vision fiasco. Did I ever mention how much I love that little Jetta?  
  
"Bet's off 'Ria!" I call to her. She sighs visually and sends me a come hither look.  
  
"I'm going on break!" she than calls to Liz. Liz looks a little queasy but just smiles and nods.  
  
~  
  
"Just don't make too much nose Dad's upstairs," Liz whispers in my ear as I walk past her. OH MY GOD!!! Has sweet little Lizzy actually just said that? I than look over my shoulder to see Michael saunter towards us. He's wearing that tight black Tee I love, and jeans that fight him in all of the right places. I take a sip of water and whisper back:  
  
"I'll try but I won't make any promises." Liz doesn't even look shocked. She just smiles and looks to where Max is sitting the booth.  
  
"I get to go over to table seven. It looks like they're arguing over something and I need to calm them down before things get out of control.  
  
It was the last I heard from her. Michael and I went in the back and well . . . . . you get the idea. I was just fixing my skirt so I could officially end my break when I heard the shot. I knew. It was the same shot that had echoed in my dream. Liz.  
  
~  
  
I got to her in time. I saved her. I dissolved a bullet that had found its way into her body. I did in an occupied diner. With people that can ask questions. I saved my soul mates life. Michael made me leave and I told her to pretend that it had only been catsup.  
  
I told you I would do anything for her. I would die for her and this time I think it wasn't me who did the dieing. It was a matter of starting things that were definitely going to change things. If Maria and Michael's kiss had been monumental because it showed the power of things that are to come; this is the sign that they are here.  
  
With that Max pulled out his cell and . . . .  
  
AN:// What do you think?? I might be able to squeeze in another chapter before DESTINY, but after that, I make only one promise..I will only update if someone helps me with some questions I have. I hope you enjoyed this!  
  
Erlinda  
  
3,975 


	5. Invasion

AN:// Hey guys! I just wanted to say thank you for everyone who has reviewed!! I'm so sorry about how late this is, but I wanted my friend to go over this for me and make sure it was good, or if I should change anything, but she wouldn't answer me, so here it is. If I do get anyone to be my Editor (My last one quit on my, I guess) than I will definitely be doing a redo of this. It will be the same story line, but a lot leaner and a lot sleeker. The other bonus to it is that I'll post the whole thing at one time, instead of posting it by chapters like I've had to do for this. I know it's taken me a long while, but I do have about16 pages, which is the most I've done so far. Well enough for now, I'll finish when the chapter is over. Happy Reading!!  
  
I had always said that I would give up everything for her. I would do anything, risk anything. Why? Because it was her. It was Liz. How could I Not do just about anything for her? Along time ago when we first got together we had made a pact saying that we would never publicly display our secret. Who knew what kind of whack jobs would come looking for us, CIA, FBI, Jerry Springer . . . . But when the gun shot went off, I didn't have a choice. So that's why I did what I did. It wasn't because it was a reflex reaction; it wasn't because I didn't want to see anyone suffer, because it was her. I feel guilty about it. I saved her life, and I feel guilty. What's wrong with me? I feel like crying. I won't though because guys just don't cry and I'm supposed to be the leader. Leaders don't cry; even though they want to.  
  
Someone was knocking on my window. I wonder who it is. An image of Liz in my leather jacket and in the pajamas comes to mind and I wonder if I'm just imagining it or if she really is the one tapping on my window. CIA wouldn't bother to tap on my window would they? They would've waited until I was sleeping and they would've just dragged me off to their underground lair. Do they have underground lairs? Or is that something only from a comic book? They've got to have underground Lairs. There is no way the government can have that much money and accidentally miscount a how million. Hey! Every man needs his space. I bet they got Plasma TVs, a fully stocked bar, pool, and God knew what else. 9/11 recession my ass.  
  
I'm on my way over to the window. The hair on my arms is prickling in anticipation. It's her. There's no way it can't be. Whenever I'm even in the same building with her it's like I can't even think until she's right there. I reached out to open the window and as I was about to undue the latch I hesitated. Why was Liz coming to see me so late at night? I glanced at the clock to see that it was 11:47. Just as I was about to open the window it opened on its own.  
  
"It was taking too long." She brushed some stray bits of hair from her face and proceeded to climb through my window. She had been in my room on numerous occasions, whether to study, to watch movies, to hang out with the rest of the gang. There had been nights where he would wake up and find her crawling under the covers with him. She would spend hours crying and I would simply hold her and try to comfort her as much as possible. Why was she here now?  
  
"Where's the fire?" I asked. Why was she in such a big hurry to sneak in? It was early September. Desert nights can be cold but I really didn't live on the desert, more like in the suburbs with my adoptive parents, who were blissfully clueless about my whole otherworldly status.  
  
"I just wanted to come see you," she replied. Liz wasn't a bad liar. On the contrary, when she wanted to lie she could do it easily and no one would suspect a thing. But it was different when we lied to each other. I knew when she was lying and vice versa. She knew that. Than why was she trying to lie to me now? I'll just humor her. Maybe she just needs someone to talk to. She did almost die after all.  
  
~  
  
OK, lying to him might not have been the best thing to have done. I mean, we can sense when we lie to each other. He's tilting his head to the side. He's confused. . . . Damn! He does know, but if I know him than he's just going to 'humor' me. How am I supposed to tell him? How am I supposed to tell him that I've been dreaming about this afternoon for weeks; that that was why I had been seeking his comfort in the night? How was I supposed to tell him that everything has been heightened; every molecule in my being could feel everything. How was I supposed to tell him that I was getting stronger?  
  
Oh yeah, he's my soul mate. He's Max.  
  
~  
  
"Who the hell are you??!!" Maria de Luca shouted at the top of her lungs. "Who the fuck gave you the right to say what any of us can do?"  
  
"What the hell are you talking about?!! You know for a fact that Max using his powers to heal Liz in the middle of The Crashdown like that just about exposed us to the whole world! The FBI is probably compiling files right now! Once they see who Liz and Max are, they're going to see who their four closest friends and we're going to be pinned down by association!! Do you want to go to some 'white room' and be taken apart piece by piece so they can examine you? Do you really want that 'Ria? Max just broke the most important rule we have! Why?? Because he's King and he can do any god damn thing he wants too!" Michael's voice was loud. He was shouting at Maria again. They had been arguing for the past 45 minutes. He was waiting for Maria to start her bantering. He was waiting . . . . Still waiting . . . . . again, waiting . . . . . but instead she did the most unexpected ting possible; she spoke calmly. Perhaps a little coldly, but she wasn't yelling.  
  
"You son of a bitch," with that I walked away. We had been arguing for the past 45 minutes in the deserted park. It was nearing 6 o'clock in the afternoon. It had taken forever to answer all of the cops' questions, and then we had safely retreated to the nearest deserted park. It was deserted for a reason. It was one of the dirtiest pieces of Roswell and even the kids who lived close to the park in the trailer park walked the extra mile to hang out somewhere else after school.  
  
It had been about four. We had just started out shift after class. It had been the first day of our sophomore year. I had had this strange vision and we had decided that we would meet at the Crashdown because Mr. Parker had us on call and when Edna and Agnes had called out we had had to cover their shift.  
  
It was like most shifts. We took orders, we commented on Max and Michael who sat in their usual booth. Max had been staring at Liz the whole time and Liz wasn't much better when she wasn't busy taking orders. We passed around phony pictures that were supposedly taken from the '47 crash. What? They were tourists we had to do something to amuse ourselves.  
  
There had been a huge commotion from the two truckers who had been seated at the window. Liz, ever the peace-maker went to settle the dispute. Suddenly the smaller man was waving a gun in the air and suddenly there was a loud shot and Liz was lying on the floor.  
  
His hands were glowing and the blood that had been every where a moment ago was gone. The bullet that had launched it's self in her stomach was dissolved.  
  
"Tell them that a ketchup bottle had slipped and broke. Tell them that you ducked just in time." Max's face was shinning with moisture. He looked like he was on the verge of crying.  
  
Michael had kept the small crowed back and when Max was finished they had discreetly fled. Or, so Michael says, but Michael could never do anything discreetly. He blunders into everything without a care. He has this whole attitude that just says, that I feel this way about tit and if you don't like, oh well. I'm me and there's nothing that's going to change it. Nonchalant. That's the word. I know him better than that though. I know Michael. Not just the Michael that everyone else sees. I see the Michael who combs his hair to the side for Mum whenever she takes us over to Grandma Eliza's house. He knows how important making a good impression with Grandma Eliza is to mum. I know the Michael who worked all summer at Steve's Auto shop, so he could put his earnings into the Christmas Jar mum has stashed under the sink in the bathroom so she would have enough money for presents. He never told me, but I saw him do it. Just like the time he brought home the bird who broke its arm. He didn't know I knew. He's Michael and I know almost everything.  
  
But this time it's different. This time I can't understand him at all. He's going on about how Max healed Liz. OK, he broke the rule. BUT SHE WAS DIEING!! Doesn't that make it an acceptation to the rule? How can he not see why I'm so pissed off at him? He's getting all worked up over this and he didn't even realize that I almost lost one of my best friends. He didn't realize the Liz almost died. He doesn't realize that I'm crying right now because he probably wouldn't do the same thing for me. It's against the rules.  
  
What am I supposed to do now? She's obviously pissed. I can't go home just yet. I have to give her some time to cool down. I don't understand why she's so upset. It's like we're on two different wave links. That thought alone is unsettling. We had never been this disconnected before.  
  
My hands are itching. I need to draw her. She's beautiful when she's upset. It's like her face is trying to contain all of that passion. I don't have any money though. I can't buy any sketching paper; and all my notebooks are still at Hanks. Well, I have some time to blow off. . . . .  
  
~  
  
I should've just taken all of my stuff to Maria's when I unofficially moved in. That way I wouldn't have ever to have seen Hank again. But I was a complete idiot, again. I hadn't wanted to risk the chance of 'Ria finding any of my sketches. It was embarrassing, the way I draw her. I didn't want her to see the way I saw her. I wanted to keep it to myself. I didn't want to feel stupid if she didn't feel the same way about me. It wasn't like I drew her naked or anything, but I had once shown Isabel and she had said that it was obvious, from the way I had drawn her, that I was head over heels. I hadn't wanted 'Ria to know that. I was a stone wall. I didn't get emotional. So, we made-out a lot. That didn't mean it was true love. We lived under the same roof and we shared the same secret, it was probably like those kids in that movie who were stranded. They basically grew up all alone. Of course they were going to turn to each other. But still, I should've just taken the notebooks to 'Ria's.  
  
When I got to the trailer park, where Hank my legal foster father lived, I stood in front of the door for what seemed like infinity. I went back every now and then. I used to come back a few times a week when 'Ria and I were younger and as I got older the visits became even more infrequent. I hadn't been back in a month, and that had been after school. I had promised myself I would never be back. I had a new life now, one that had friends, and perhaps a family; one that had 'Ria.  
  
I opened the swinging screen door that was obviously in need of repair. At first I thought it was odd that he would keep the door unlocked and than after taking a look at the place I realized no one would ever want to steal anything from Hank. It was worse than I remembered. At my feet were piles of empty beer bottles. The couch was well worn and the counters and what looked like had once been a stove was smeared with grease and god only knew what else. The trailer was empty. Hank was no where in sight and I heaved a sigh of relief. I wasn't sure if Hank was still working at the Cheese Factory still or even what shift he had. It was dark out and since Hank drank from sun-up to sun-down hw would've been in a deadly mood if he had been here.  
  
I definitely didn't want to stall in this room; in this . . . . Place. I headed over to what once been my room. When I had first left, a few days after 'Ria had first made me promise that I wouldn't come back here, I had locked the door with my alien skills. No one would be able to get into the room. It was more like a large janitor's closet 'Ria and I spent hours in instead of AP Chem. That Liz had signed us up for. When I opened the door, I looked around and to my satisfaction found the room the way I had left it last. The covers on my bed were a mess (just in case my 'alien skills' hadn't worked and Social Services had gotten in. This way it looked like I was still staying there) and the closet held a few clothes from when I was younger and my sweaters that mum . . . . I mean Ms. De Luca had given me a few Christmas' ago.  
  
When I had first moved in, I soon realized that my mattress had a large hole in it. When I discovered my passion for drawing (mostly 'Ria) I decided to hide my drawings there. It was an ideal hiding place, and made the thin mattress a little more comfortable. I slipped my hand between the thin cloth coverings and pulled out a large notebook. In it I had dedicated it only to the most beautiful things. There were sunsets, sunrises, 'Ria, and a few pictures of the four of us as a family. There was a noise in the background. I wasn't paying attention. The picture of 'Ria's face captivating me, drawing me in. That's when he started yelling.  
  
~  
  
I had just gotten out of the shower and put on my pajamas. I was now sitting at my vanity and was combing my hair back. It was short and wet and was a way for me to relax and to think. Think about school, Michael, the shooting, Michael, Liz, Michael, and yes Michael. It was nine o'clock and he still wasn't home. Mum had been on edge for a while and that was starting to scare me. What were also starting to scare me were the symptoms. I was going to be sick again and I had been taking all the precautions. I ate lots of fruits and vegetables, took my vitamins, made sure that all my vegetarian meals had been thoroughly washed, and had taken long bathes to release tension. Not to mention that I had been burning relaxing incense like crazy. Mum was starting to notice the signs, and she was waiting for me to tell her, but I felt that I had to Michael first. I was about to him today during my shift, but then Liz got shot and than he was being an insensitive prick, and well we had gone our separate ways since then.  
  
It wasn't like I was having symptoms for the usual stuff. No way. When I got sick, it was deadly. Antibiotics didn't work. We found that one out after the third time I got sick. I had almost died and as a last resort mum had taken me to the hospital. They tried everything but nothing worked. They took blood samples, but in the end we had to use mums blood instead of mine. After I was administered in the hospital, Lizzy had thought about the blood test. I couldn't very well not leave, I mean, anyone who looked at me knew that I was on my death bed and since my otherworldly status gave me different blood cells, I was forced to use someone else's blood. It was that day I found out that mum's blood was different than ours. They released me thinking that it would be better for me to die in comfort. I did eventually get better and after long grueling hours of summer school, and hours of study sessions with Liz I passed that year, and that was the end of it. Whenever I did get sick, we found that the best remedies were herbal ones. It was strange but they seemed to work the best. I was having dreams about the sickness and from what I saw this one was going to be a dozy. I remember I was about to tell Michael . . . . .  
  
Michael. Where the hell was he? He never misses dinner. Especially when mum lets him cook and he had already prepared some hamburger meat for the occasion. He made mum worry and she never really worried, unless she called in too many sick days in which she would worry about how big her paycheck was going to be. On top of that he was starting to make me worry. When he came home I was gonna . . . .  
  
TAP, TAP, TAP.  
  
I looked up from my vanity mirror and looked into the deep green eyes of Michael Guerin. The tapping could've been the rain that was falling outside my window but there was the pull. The pull that told me Michael was nearby. His hair was plastered to his head and he was soaked. He was looking at me with those large, green, expectant eyes. He was obviously waiting for me to let him in. I went over to the window.  
  
"Oh no, you don't! I know exactly what you want! "It's not going to work! I know what this is all . . ." And than I took a closer look at his face. It was dark and splotchy in some places, and in others the rain was rolling of in red tracks. Why would the rain be red? It wasn't red rain; it was blood. Suddenly it hit me. The park we had visited earlier, the long lapse of time he had been away, the bruises that covered his face. He had gone to Hank's and Hank had beaten the shit out of him, again. Hastily I opened the window and he crawled inside.  
  
He was staring at me. It was strange to see him looking at me like that. We had been going out since that first day in seventh grade, but had never stared at me. I took a step closer to him and reached a hand out and took his hand. Reflexively he flinched backward, but when I didn't let go he pulled me close to him. He wasn't shaking, he was convulsing. Wetness found its way in my hair. He was crying, I realized. I had never seen Michael cry in all the time I had known him, and here he was sobbing. Seconds later I realized that the rest of me was also becoming soaked. I tried to pull away but he pulled me closer and wasn't letting go.  
  
"Michael I have to get you out of these wet clothes. I don't want you to get sick. C'mon let me get you some nice dry clothes. There ya go . . . ." Rather hesitantly he let me go and I quickly dashed about. I grabbed some towels from the bathroom closet and some pajamas for him to wear. He usually only slept in his boxers but that was when he slept on the floor. There was no way he was going to wear just boxers, especially for what I had planned.  
  
I gave him the towel and the pajama bottoms and boxers and turned around waiting for him to get dressed. It was a slow process, but I dutifully kept my head turned and kept my eyes on the floor and was a little regretful that I had forgotten the vanity mirror. How was I not supposed to look? But this wasn't some kind of sex thing and I had resolved not to make a move when he was in such an emotional state. He had finally got him self fully dressed and cleared his throat. I turned around and looked at him. He was so sexy, and with the body of a sex god. Ahhhh, how did I get so lucky. Stop that Maria! Stay focused, Michael crying. C'mon you can do it! His hair was still dripping do I took the towel from him and began to dry his hair. I kept staring at him though, and I wasn't doing a good job. I finally got frustrated and lifted my other hand to dry him off. . . . magically. Before I could though, he grabbed my hand and pulled me close. I let him hold me and after awhile I pulled him over to my bed and turned back the covers.  
  
~  
  
I rolled over and snuggled closer. M-mm he smelled so good; just like rain. He was nice and warm. Wait . . . . He? I cracked and eye and found an emerald one staring back at me. I was just contemplating why Michael was in bed with nothing but pajama bottoms on, wit h me entangled in a mass of arms and legs; and then memories came rushing back. I closed my eye and sighed. There was no way anything could ever be better than this.  
  
~  
  
They couldn't look happier if they were on a commercial for Disney World. They looked sickening and a part of her wanted to be apart of that, but the other part of her, the part of her who remembered Antar, the part of her who was raised by Nesado wanted to end it as soon as possible. She wanted him and she wanted to go back to how things had been before everything was screwed up. Now was her chance and she was going to make sure that everything turned out according to plan if it killed her.  
  
"Admiring the Royal Six?" asked the boy next to her. He had the word Geek written all over him. His hair was blonde and was constantly in his eyes. His eyes were a dark shade of blue. He had to have been around 5"9' and he wore a pentagram necklace around his neck. He had been the first person to talk to her and having just moved here she had to talk to someone. The first rule was to get the lay out. She had to fit in and not be noticed. No one had to know she was here at the school. She had to blended in and pretend she had been there for awhile and no one had noticed. If they were right than she would make her big debut. Did he just say "The Royal Six??" Even breaths, don't let him notice that you recognize that. Keep a straight face. Impenetrable, remember? Everything was riding on this; I have to get this right.  
  
"The Royal Six?"  
  
"Yeah," replied the blonde haired kid "It's a nickname we gave them last year. They all have their quirks. There's The Queen: Liz Parker. She's the one with the long dark hair, just to the left. She's real pretty and any guy who knows her would love to date her. Only she's untouchable because of the King: Max Evans. She's real nice and was president of The Science Club last year. She's a shoe in this year. I don't know her personally but my friend Erlinda VP and she always has something nice to say about her and she never has anything positive to say. Max is kind of over-protective but you have to go through Liz first. Last year some kid touched her bum and she had him in the place-where-the-sun-shouldn't-shine- area. He was in the hospital for a week after that. During which she got to skip school and deliver baked goods to the retirement home. When the poor kid finally got out Max fractured his nose and almost killed him but Maria and Alex found him. That kid had to get home-schooling after the whole Liz Incident as it's known around here, but after Max he hasn't come outside. They've been going out since 5th grade and they've been dating since 7th grade. No breaks or anything. It's like they never fight. Which is completely different than Maria and Michael.  
  
"Michael Guerin and Maria de Luca started dating since the seventh grade. She's hot but a little weird; she has this whole thing for tofu and being a vegetarian. The first week of seventh grade some kid kept trying to get with Maria for sex and when she said 'fuck off' he spread rumors about her saying how she a little whore. Michael hadn't heard them but when the kid said it out loud in front of him Michael gave him a bloody nose. When Maria found out she kicked the shit out of him. Turns out Maria and Michael had just started going out and since they really don't talk to a lot of other people but those in their group no one really knew. No one picks on Michael because he took out some kids when he first moved here. After the whole incident in seventh grade no one messes with Maria. It's not just that she could kick ass, but Michael is the typical way-over protective type. I think it has something to do with her being sick all the time."  
  
"What do you mean she's sick all the time?" queried Tess.  
  
"I remember in 5th grade she got real sick and the doctors all thought she was going to die. She got over it though and almost got held back because she missed so many days of school. Michael had been overprotective then, but after that he went just about everywhere with her."  
  
Tess couldn't believe it. There was no explanation for it other than the fact that it was happening all over again. Everything that had happened then was about to happen again. Tess forced herself to listen to the annoying boy sitting next to her. She had to find out what was going on somehow.  
  
"Next are Isabel Edmunds and Alex Whitman. Isabel's a goddess really. No one can really understand why she hangs out with them. She's probably going to be voted 'Prettiest Girl,' or something. She could be one of the popular kids but she sticks with the Royals over there. Alex plays base but he really hasn't done anything with it. I only know that because he started talking about starting a band and I play keyboard. He's a nice guy and he lets just about anyone cheat off of him in a test situation. That's how Matt Sullivan passed all last year. Because of Alex he was able to go to championship. Ever since then Matt makes sure that no one messes with him or anyone in their little group. He's a really nice guy and he can make you laugh. He's good with computers too. They've been dating since 6th grade. Isabel can be a real bitch though. This girl named Erica once started rumors about Alex and Isabel. Supposedly Isabel and Alex made a trip to the Eraser room. It's a room we have that the teachers use to clean dust off of the erasers and we, students, use it as a make-out room. Anyway it was reported that they snuck into it and Isabel could be heard moaning. In 24 hours there were mysterious posters hanging up all over the school, and on them were pictures of Erica making out with this really old guy. It was gross to say the least. No one really knows who put up the posters but everyone pretty much guessed it was Isabel. She's like an Ice Queen if you catch her at the wrong moment. But she can be pretty nice too. I remember this one time . . . . "He rambled on.  
  
Tess started to zone out and was trying to remember everything he had just said. This guy knew everything about them and it seemed to be common knowledge. This town was a perfect place to set up base. They would be close to them and perhaps she would be able to infiltrate the group this way. Tess looked at the idiot sitting next to her. He was a complete idiot. But he did have his uses. He had told her everything she had wanted to know and more; besides killing was such a messy process and it took a lot of work. She did need the practice. Wouldn't it be odd that she had hung around with him all day and the next day she would be gone and him dead? That would surely alert them. Perhaps she should just spare him. It would give her some more practice on erasing memories if she choose not to kill him. Perhaps he would prove to be useful later if anything . . . . . unexpected . . . . Were to occur.  
  
Without blinking an eye Tess erased his memories and those of her teachers. She hadn't really stood out and those she had had conversations with she had already erased their memory of it when she had been changing in the locker room.  
  
She was gathering her stuff and gloating at her successful mission. The idiot boy, Randy had given her a startled look and hesitant smile. When she gave a glare back he quickly left and joined his moronic friends at another table. Her purse was weighed down with the small notebook she kept with her at all times and her jacket was in her arms and she was standing to leave. Mission accomplished. She thought snidely as she made her way to the cafeteria exit. Foolishly she looked back to the Royal Six and found to her amazement that Alex, Liz and Maria were staring back at her. Hurriedly Tess made the rest of the way to the exit and escaped. She was expecting all six of them to follow; for them to shout out for her to stop. When she rounded the corner and looked into the cafeteria window she found to her amazement that the three had simply gone back to eating their lunch and talking to the rest of the group. Tess gave a huge sigh of relief and smirked. Obviously they don't remember. And with that Tess made the biggest mistake of her life. She assumed that the six were ignorant and because of it, it would cost her, her life.  
  
~  
  
They had finally been able to get together and talk. With all the craziness with the shooting and everything the six really hadn't had much contact. Isabel felt more at ease but there was still a lot that needed to be said. It was lunchtime and the six of them were crammed at their usual table in the commons or the cafeteria. Just like every other lunch they talked about the usual stuff, Maria and Michael were at it again and Alex was trying to make me laugh while Max and Liz stated at each other most of the time until Alex through his fries at them. Liz laughed and Max looked abashed and guilty at the same time while his ear turned crimson.  
  
There were certain topics of discussion that all of six of them had been tactfully avoiding not that they could really get into too much detail about what had been going on they were in public after all and there was a risk that they could be overheard but there were a lot of things they could talk about. It was a cafeteria, and because of such the noise around them could sufficiently drown out a lot of things they said but they still had to be careful. Hiding in plain sight which had been Max' plan since they had first started hanging out together was a pain in the ass; or so Isabel, and after it had been discussed with Alex, thought. They had to act like ordinary teenagers and the less secret meetings as possible the better. (So their parents would get suspicious.) So they were forced to talk about the majority of their otherworldly concerns in public which was difficult for Isabel. Today was different though. Today Isabel needed to call a secret meeting and she said so.  
  
"OK, guys, I really think we need to meet at the fort. There have been a lot of things going on and we really need to discuss it all."  
  
"I think so too," agreed Max "Where are we on shifts at the Crash Down?" he asked Maria and Liz. (When does Michael start working there??)  
  
"Dad gave me the day off because he thinks that I had a near death experience. Since the gunshot just barely missed me and all. Maria managed to convince him that he didn't want her to work today because it was the beginning of the new school year and all and that she would need to start this year out right. Something like that. She was talking so fast and was practically on her knees begging he finally gave her the day off and didn't look like he knew what hit him."  
  
"Oh, I know that look!" Alex claimed. "That's the look Michael gets when Maria wants him to do something for her!" Alex was than hit in the head with a few sporks that were sent in his direction by Maria and Michael.  
  
"And your supposed to be telekinetic," muttered Michael upon seeing Alex' stunned face.  
  
"In any case tonight would be a good night to go to the fort than," decided Max when he had finally stopped laughing with the rest of the group.  
  
Alex was using one of the sporks that had been thrown at him to play with the lumpy mess of what was supposed to be mashed potatoes when he felt it. It was a prickling at his neck that he couldn't really explain. It was the same sort of feeling he got whenever anyone in the group (except Isabel because that feeling was much stronger) was near. He turned around and noticed a small, petite formed girl with curl hair gathering her things and leaving a table that was facing the commons exit. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the Liz and Maria were staring too. There was something in the way she moved and the way her curly hair bounced when she walked. Just as she was reaching the exit she turned and looked right him and he knew then, for sure that he knew her. There was something in the icy blue stare that he recognized. He shrugged and went back to fiddling with his 'mashed potatoes.'  
  
~  
  
Michael and I were in the Jetta on the way home from school. The car was silent which was a change for the two of us. We did tend to fight on occasion but with last night's occurrences made the two of us tense.  
  
Flashback to this morning.  
  
I rolled over and snuggled closer. M-mm he smelled so good; just like rain. He was nice and warm. Wait . . . . He? I cracked and eye and found an emerald one staring back at me. I was just contemplating why Michael was in bed with nothing but pajama bottoms on, wit h me entangled in a mass of arms and legs; and then memories came rushing back. I closed my eye and sighed. There was no way anything could ever be better than this.  
  
His arms were wrapped around me and put my ear to his unadorned chest. It was smooth and well sculpted. I listened to his heat beating, over and over again. It was gentle and soothing. Silently I was slipping off to sleep when he whispered to me.  
  
"Maria."  
  
"Hmm??" I answered back.  
  
"We need to talk about last night, I-"  
  
"I saw what happened," I interrupted.  
  
"What? How?"  
  
"I accidentally dream-walked you and I saw the whole thing. Sorry," I said a bit sheepishly. Dream-walking was one of my major abilities but I hated to just enter into someone's dreams without permission. What dreaming is sacred and I hated violating, but with Michael it was different. I hadn't really tried to go inside of Michael's dreams. I was in such a close proximity of him and he was so emotional, I just kind of slipped into his dream. I told him so and he heaved a huge sigh of relief.  
  
"Well, I guess I don't need to explain anything then. I wasn't even sure how I was going to be able to," he confided. "You're beautiful when you're sleeping," Michael murmured after a few moments. I smiled against his chest and went back to sleep.  
  
End Flashback  
  
"Michael," I started breaking the tension that had enveloped the car "It's coming again." He didn't say anything, and I wished that I could turn on the radio but we could never agree on what station to listen to so I left it off and kept on driving home.  
  
"What's starting again?" he finally asked. It was like he had been in his own little world.  
  
Flashback to earlier that morning  
  
It was about time for school, but the bed was so warm and Maria was so soft. He couldn't believe it. He had come home expecting 'Ria to yell and scream at him but she had simply held him close and let him cry. He had never thought that anyone would ever be so gentle with him. He should get them both up, but against his better judgment, he decided against it and tried to go back to sleep.  
  
The door opened and Michael opened his eyes. Amy de Luca was standing in the door way and she looked pissed; one green eye narrowing with her blue one.  
  
She really hadn't been that mad at them or so he thought. Michael had thought that Amy de Luca would raise hell if ever caught anyone with her daughter in such a compromising position. However, she just paced around the house and objects whizzed around the house as she yelled at the two of them. When she had finally finished she listened to what Maria had to say, which the whole story was told in de Luca fashion (in a very fast and passionate way). Amy than looked at my face which held multiple bruises, and sighed.  
  
"All right, let me heal them for you. But you guys, don't ever let me catch you that way again, and Michael we do have an extra room. You should sleep in there for now on, and I don't even want to have to talk about sex." That was that.  
  
End Flashback  
  
"The symptoms, they're starting again."  
  
"What do you mean the symptoms are starting again?' questioned Michael.  
  
"Michael-"  
  
"Since when? When did they start?"  
  
"About a week ago."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me? Are you going to start keeping secret now? Maria I-"He called me Maria. He only called me Maria when he was pissed, emotional, or being especially tender. I had to cut him off. There was no way I was going to listen to this.  
  
"Michael, I thought I was just going to start my period and than it got worse and I checked my calendar, and I realized it wasn't that time. That was part of the reason I was so pissed off yesterday, because I was about to tell you about it and then you started yelling. I am sorry, but with everything going on . . . ." I trailed off lamely.  
  
"I'm sorry 'Ria, I didn't mean to be so gruff. I'm sorry. Why were so mad at me last night any way?"  
  
"You were just so upset about Max using his powers to heal Liz and I was afraid that if the same thing ever happened to me you wouldn't heal me."  
  
"Oh god. Of course I would heal you, I never even thought about it that way. I'm just afraid that we're all going to be taken away. I'm sorry. Do you know how bad it's going to be?"  
  
"It's going to be real bad. Michael I don't know what I'm going to do anymore." We were sitting in the driveway. I was glad that we had pulled up before I had made my whole confession earlier after we had pulled up. My hands were shaking and I was trying to stop it by griping the steering wheel. Michael noticed and took my hands in his.  
  
~  
  
Liz and Alex were waiting for the rest of the group to arrive at the fort. They shared a special connection. It was different than that of just friends and different than what they felt of their significant other.  
  
"Did you notice the girl with the curly blonde hair?" Liz asked.  
  
"Yeah. She was kind of familiar looking."  
  
"I thought so too," confided Liz.  
  
"Have you seen her around before?"  
  
"No, why?"  
  
"Alex isn't it strange that the day after I get shot that we notice a mysterious girl whom we both sort of recognize?"  
  
So what are proposing Lizzy? An invasion?" with that he chuckled and hugged her. He could see his breath and the cold wood floor did nothing to warm him. Yeah an invasion, he thought to himself. Why did that thought also feel like a part of deja vou?  
  
What did you think?? I know it was shoddy, but please review, I do know what you think.  
  
Coming up: What happened between Max and Liz? The Meeting, and what do the 'Protectors' have to do with this?  
  
7,282 


	6. In The Treehouse, on a Dark and Stary Ni...

He had been up here with Liz.  
  
When I had gotten here with Michael and Max they had been holding hands and laughing about something. Sure Liz and Max were dating, but so are Alex and I. What was up with them anyway? Lately they had been spending a lot of time together, and Alex was always trying to impress her, did he....have a crush on Liz?? Did he really feel that way about her? I wanted to say something and I wanted to say something that would have the effect of pulling that perfect little brunet down a notch or two and drag her skinny ass off that pedestal he always seemed to have her standing on. My eyes looked on hers and I found her staring to my right. I turned a little and noticed that Max was staring straight back. How dare she? She stole the only person I could ever really be myself around and she doesn't even care? I couldn't look anymore and closed my eyes hoping to block out the sight. She's still over there make moon eyes with Max whenever he walks into the room but as soon as he leaves, she's all for playing games with MY boyfriend. There was a slight pressure on my waist and a slow warmth spread about my body warding off the frigid dessert night air.  
  
The pressure turned out to be a hand it pulled me closer and whispered in my ear. "You have no idea how beautiful you look right now," it whispered. I opened my eyes and turned my head to find my self looking into the unblinking gaze of Alex, whom I had just accused of flirting with Liz.  
  
"What are you talking about? I look a mess." I started to pull away." I haven't had time to-"  
  
"You've never looked more beautiful, except that time we had the mud fight when we were eight," he interrupted. His other hand floated to my waist and pulled my closer.  
  
"Alex..."  
  
His head bent to mine and he whispered: "I love you Izzy, I always have, no matter what, and I always will."  
  
Did I ever mention they we're best friends? Maria, Liz, and I. We're like sisters. We do almost do everything together, and I would do anything for them. I love them, and would never ever, ever think that one of my sisters, (Liz) would be messing around with Alex, who's still got his arm around my waist. Nope, never happened. But Alex had said he loved me, and that part was real.  
  
Alex and I had a special relationship. I know he loves me and I love him. I love him more than I could ever say, but we don't say it too often. He once said that he wanted me to appreciate it when he did say it, and I....well truth be told, I....was scared. There's a large part of me who's really afraid to let him in....to let him see the real me. It's not that I'm afraid of intimacy, it's just this feeling I have. I couldn't ever love anyone but Alex, but there's a part of me that feels like I'll somehow hurt him. Like there's a piece of me that has, and I can't forgive myself for it. But I haven't. I haven't done anything wrong. I haven't done anything to be ashamed of. I can do it. I can whisper how much I love him and always will, but the moment is lost. He's starting to pull away. My body is stiffening. The warmth is leaving, he's leaving. My soul is crying: Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!  
  
"Alex..." my arm is taking his, and I pull him close and I whisper all of things I have been longing to say. The things I had shown him in kiss but hadn't really said.  
  
Alex and Isabel are talking over there and although they're not in a motel room it looks like Isabel should just throw in the towel and get one. What's so important about virginity if it's with someone you love? Max and Liz are talking about something; or rather it looks like Liz is about start yelling in a minute, which means that Max really must be pissing her off. I'll have to go over there in a moment but Michael's standing in the corner looking down at something. His forehead's creased and I know that he's really thinking about something and not just pretending to, like when I ask him which shirt to wear, the red or blue.  
  
"Whatchya looking' at Michael?" I asked.  
  
"Oh, umm...nothing."  
  
"Michael..."  
  
"A picture of us and your mum in the dessert. I never really understood why we have picnics every year in the desert. It has to be the absolute worst place in the world to eat a sandwich."  
  
"Mum and dad met there."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Mum takes us up there every year on their anniversary, where they had their first date. They got married at that rock."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"So why were you in such deep concentration over a picture?"  
  
"It's just, well, it's the only one I really have of you," he said.  
  
"Michael, there's got to be a thousand more at home," and with a quick glance over his shoulder, "and any of them could easily make me look better than that," I said as I made a face.  
  
"That's just it Maria. I live in your house, and every now and than, I call Amy mum. But she's not my mom. It's not MY home, or house. I really don't belong there. Money's tight and you guys really don't need me to add to it. You guys are the closest thing I have to a family, except you know Max, Liz, Alex and Isabel. The six of us are family, but you guys have a home to get to when the day's done. I just..."  
  
"So, what brought this up? After basically living with me since the fourth grade, why are you suddenly bringing this up?" Was he trying to find some kind of excuse to get away from me? Sure we have our share of fights and those of several other couples, and yeah, we bicker constantly, but we loved each other. Right? I had always felt a connection with him. Maybe it was different with him. I could always read him, and sometimes, it felt like he was reading me, but this wasn't one of those times.  
  
"Nothing really....it's just that I....I want that Maria, I want my own family. I think I'm going to have to leave, and go and find that family. Alone."  
  
"Michael, who the hell do you think you're talking to? I'm not just someone you can just blow off, and I don't know what you're thinking most of the time, and truth be told, I really don't want to know what's going on in that brain of yours. But know that you are not doing anything by yourself. With the control you have on your powers, you'll end up setting fire to something; and god knows I love you for it. But, by no means are you going to do anything on your own."  
  
"Maria..."  
  
"Would you let me do anything without you, or with some other guy?" Maria retorted?  
  
"Point taken."  
  
"Good, now we better separate Max and Liz, because she looks like she's about to use her powers on him."  
  
Liz was glaring at Max, and Isabel and Alex definitely needed to get a room. It really was a shame to break them up, and Alex was probably going to kill me for it later, but really getting it on with all your friends watching, for the first time, in a tree house no less, was definitely not the way to go. Despite what some teenage boys may think. He'll thank me for it later.  
  
"Guys, we need to talk."  
  
"This sounds just like that one time Izzy tried to break it off in the fifth grade..." Alex trailed off. His attempt at a joke was definitely not heartening.  
  
"Ok, moving on to other business, there have been major changes today, and I think its time we go through all of them. I mean, come on, Lizzy was shot today, and that alone is something we're going to have to discuss. I know that Michael and I have been going through some....strange occurrences."  
  
"Maria, we don't want to hear about your sex life!" Alex quipped, which earned him a quick jab in the ribs from Isabel.  
  
"Ha ha, very funny Whitman." Can Michael become any more denoting? Are those his hands that are wrapping around my waist? Oh no, he took that suggestively. Oh well, I'm always up for some fun.  
  
"Anyway, we saw visions today."  
  
"I don't know if I could even explain everything I saw in the vision. It was so intense, and there was so much going on, but it was so real, and I ....i never... I never felt that way about anything. I was so sad, and I felt like my heart was being ripped in two. I just remember waking up, and it was over, and there was Michael. It was intense though, out of control intense." Maria couldn't take her eyes off of Michael. There was something about him and the visions. There was a connection, and it was there, at the yip of her tongue, but for some reason she wasn't able to reach it. She wasn't able to quite remember, or grasp what was going on in the vision.  
  
God, she loved him. It wasn't the kind of love that someone would find in high school. It wasn't her first love, and it wasn't her first, and only crush. She loved him so much more than that, and there was something about that fact In itself that was odd, and while she was trying to reason it out, Michael was feeling the same way.  
  
She was so beautiful. Even when she had been convulsing in the art room, and he was scared to death that he was going to loose her. He loved her more than anything. He wasn't totally convinced that she felt the same. Perhaps it was an obligation, one she wished that she had never started, but with him, it was so much more. She was the only woman, the only person that could take his breath away with one look. She was the only person he had ever wanted to both caress and strangle at the same. She was beauty and mystery, and intelligent. She left the brains up to Liz, but she was never stupid. She could do a full emotional swing in .2 seconds, and despite all of the times they had fought, bickered and yelled, he loved her more than he could ever really express. That was another thing that bothered him.  
  
He loved her so much, than why couldn't he really say, or adequately show how much he cared? It was easy to say you love someone, especially if you do, but with her....it wasn't the same. He could easily tell Isabel or Liz that he loved them (in a non-sexual way, of course), but Maria was another story.  
  
The train of thought inhabiting inside of his head, was slowly and surely convincing him to make the second most idiotic decision in his life. But than, he was assaulted with the most incredible green eyes he had ever seen.  
  
He is so infuriating. Since when was he given the right to make the decision about everything, for everyone? Apparently, Max has decided on the course of action incase anyone starts to ask questions about the shooting. He says that we should lay low, and avoid the sheriff at all costs, which is fine wit h me, but there's a new sheriff in town, and I think it would be a better idea to make friends with him, than to avoid him. Realistically speaking, why would anyone who's hiding from the law make friends with it? It's a good idea. This way, no one can really tell him anything about us, and he can form his own opinions, and he would never suspect us of anything.  
  
We were having this conversation at the club house. I wanted to bring it up, but than I found out really interesting news, all of us had a vision, at the same time, like I thought we had. I completely forgot about our little argument, and Max didn't help matters any, when he drove me home, and I spent a good fifteen minutes giving him a good night kiss.  
  
He left my balcony a few minutes ago. Did I ever mention what a great kisser Max Evans is? Have I ever mentioned how incredibly hot he is? M- mmmm. I've decided to let go of the whole Sheriff thing. Besides, if his plan doesn't work, we can always follow mine. Besides, who's to say that anyone would be interested in a rumored shooting at some little café in the small town of Roswell, New Mexico?  
  
The Preview for the Next Chapter  
  
Where the hell did I put my uniform?  
  
Sorry I haven't posted for a while, my computer completely crashed, and I don't have any of my notes, or the chapters I have previously uploaded. I'm also having trouble, because I'm trying to put all of this as close as possible to the sequence of events on the show, and I have all of those jumbled in my head, and since, I have to wait to get Season One on DVD, I might not post for a while. I'm going to Europe for Spring Vacation. (YESSSS!!!), so I won't be uploading on this story then. (Which starts tomorrow Thursday the 8th at 2:15 p.m.) I have a new idea for Maria and Michael fans. It would be a series called The Field Trips, and Detentions (series??) I don't know all of the specifics yet, and I'll probably change the title, because it needs work, but it'll have to do for now, anyway, tell me what you think. Come on review. Ya know you want to. Come on...you can do it. 


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